It's now official on Geni, folks, the moment we've all been waiting for! Two women who were mistresses both of Napoleon and Wellington. (I think it does not stop there; Wellington had a picture of Paola Borghese, Napoleon's sister, above his bed in the Embassy in Paris, as well as Josephina Grassini, one of the two shared mistresses, so I reckon he had a fling with her too).
A pity Geni does not allow one to record that he also stole Napoleon's cook. And the nude statue of Napoeon by Canova which stands in Apsley House must have been acquired by Wellington in the full knowledge that Napoleon had loathed it on sight and banished it to the basement of the Louvre (I think because the genitalia, on which Wellington's visitors used to hang their hats and coats, seem disproportionately small).
This may seem rather childish triumphalism by a great man. But Genghis Khan said: "The greatest pleasure....is to vanquish your enemies;...to ride their horses and clasp to your bosom their wives and daughters". Behaviour may change, but instincts don't. (Anyway, Wellington had the excuse that he had to praise Napoeon's military genius in order to boost his own reputation, when privately he had great contempt for the Emperor).
P.S. Wellington's brother, the Marquess of Wellesley, was also brother-in-law to the ex-wife of Napoloeon's younger brother, Joachim. (I think this relationship is on Geni). And when Wellesley started cheating on her (as he always did) she went to Wellington for consolation, which may have gone beyond just words. But I don't like to spread scandal.
Mark
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