Duc de Bassano
(1803-1898)

Napoléon Hughes Joseph Maret de Bassano, 2nd duc de Bassano, was the son of the great Napoléon’s war minister. A close associate of Napoléon III, he was for many years the Grand Chamberlain of the Imperial household and thus one of the Great Officers of the Crown. Following the fall of the Second Empire, he formed a part of the Empress Eugénie’s court in exile.

He attended the funerals of both Napoléon III and the Prince Imperial; at the latter he was one of the pallbearers, walking on the right of the coffin with the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Leopold and the Prince of Wales.

The titles of comte Maret and duc de Bassano were created by the Emperor Napoleon I in 1807 and 1809 respectively for his father, Hughes Bernard Maret, the diplomat and statesman. The titles became extinct in 1906 on the death of the first Duke’s grandson.