T. Sutherland, after Frederick Marryat (1791–1848)
The tomb of Bonaparte
London: S. and I. Fuller, 20 July 1821
RCMS 190/17

Napoleon died on 5 May 1821, probably of cancer of the stomach, and was buried four days later at a site he had selected in Geranium Valley, not far from Longwood. The gravestone bore no inscription because of an unresolved disagreement between Napoleon’s aide, the Comte de Montholon, and the Governor, Sir Hudson Lowe, concerning the form of name that should be used: Lowe insisted on the inclusion of ‘Bonaparte’, since ‘Napoleon’ alone would have indicated Imperial status. In a striking symbol of the rapprochement between Britain and France later in the century, Longwood House and the area of the (by then empty) grave were transferred to the ownership of the French government by a decision of the Privy Council in 1858.