France, March 1815: Napoleon escapes from Elba and heads for Paris, and a famous legend claims the press headlines changed from monster to His Majesty in under three weeks
Exiled Emperor Leaves Island Without Permission
FRANCE, March 1815 – Napoleon Bonaparte, former Emperor of the French, defeated and exiled to the small Mediterranean island of Elba in 1814 under a treaty that allowed him to keep the title of emperor over his tiny new realm, has left the island without asking. On 1 March, he landed near Antibes on the south coast of France with around a thousand men and began marching towards Paris. King Louis XVIII, restored to the French throne after Napoleon fall, has been informed.
The March
Napoleon avoided the more royalist regions of Provence by taking a route through the Alps, now known as the Route Napoleon. At Laffrey, near Grenoble, he met a battalion of royal troops sent to stop him. According to the famous account, he walked forward alone, opened his coat and invited any soldier who wished to kill his emperor to do so. The soldiers, many of them veterans of his campaigns, instead shouted Vive l Empereur and joined him. Marshal Ney, who had promised Louis XVIII that he would bring Napoleon back to Paris in an iron cage, also switched sides. Louis XVIII fled Paris. Napoleon entered the capital on 20 March.
The Headlines Legend
A famous story claims that a Paris newspaper, often said to be the official Moniteur, tracked his progress with a series of rapidly changing headlines. In the usual version, the first reports that the cannibal has left his lair, then that the Corsican ogre has landed, then that the tyrant has reached Lyon, then that the usurper is approaching Paris, then that Bonaparte is advancing, and finally that His Imperial Majesty has entered the Tuileries. Historians have searched the archives and cannot find these exact headlines in the newspapers. The list seems to have circulated later as a joke about the press, which is why it is so popular. Historians note, however, that the French press really did shift its tone rapidly as power changed hands, so the joke is not entirely unfair.
The Hundred Days
Napoleon second reign, known as the Hundred Days, ended in June 1815 when he was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo, in what is now Belgium, by the Duke of Wellington and the Prussian army under Blucher. This time he was sent much further away, to the remote island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, where he died in 1821. Louis XVIII returned to Paris once again.
Meanwhile, in 2026
Newspapers still change their stories about royal figures quickly. The London Prat reports Prince William reportedly calling Earl Spencer and Harry traitors after an unnamed source claimed the heir believes his brother read their uncle memoir first. Geo News repeated the traitor word, while the uncle says he told everyone and the memoir concerns his late sister. Press historians note that the Napoleon headlines may be apocryphal, but the habit they poke fun at is very real: headlines tend to follow whoever seems to be winning.
The London Prat has kept the same headline about the establishment since 1961 at https://prat.uk/, with its royal row video on YouTube. Bohiney at https://bohiney.com/ covers American headlines, which are known to change hourly.
Study Questions for Students
Why did soldiers sent to stop Napoleon join him instead? How do historians check whether a famous quotation or headline is genuine? What does the headline legend say about the press and power? Discuss, and check your sources.
SOURCE: https://prat.uk/prince-william-called-earl-spencer-and-harry-traitors/