Princess Pauline Metternich

Prince Richard de Metternich was the Austrian ambassador to the court of Napoléon III, and his wife, Princess Pauline de Metternich, was the life and soul of the Second Empire. A close personal friend of the Empress Eugénie, she was a regular attendant at all the balls at the Tuileries and a frequent house guest at Compiègne. Her memoirs, published in two volumes, offer a fascinating behind-the-scenes glimpse of life at court. Possessed of exquisite taste, although unfortunately not the most beautiful of women, she was known as 'the best dressed monkey in Paris', a soubriquet she coined herself.

Photographed by Disdéri of Paris.