Editing Louis-Napoléon, Prince Imperial (section)

===Death===
[[File:Mort du prince imperial (Cropped).jpg|thumb|''Death of the Prince Imperial'' by [[Paul Jamin]] (1882)]]
On the morning of 1 June 1879, the troop set out, earlier than intended and without the whole escort, largely owing to the prince's impatience.{{fact|date=May 2022}} Led by Carey, the scouts rode deeper into Zululand. Without Harrison or Buller present to restrain him, the prince took command from Carey, even though the latter had seniority. At noon, the prince halted the troop at a temporarily deserted [[kraal]]. The prince and Carey made some sketches of the terrain and used part of the thatch to make a fire. No lookout was posted. As they were preparing to leave, about 40 Zulus fired upon them and rushed towards them, screaming.<ref name ="Mackinnon-Shadbolt"/> The prince ran to mount his horse and was able to grab onto the holster on the saddle of his horse. The prince's horse then dashed off before he could mount. After about 100 yards, the strap the prince was clinging to broke and the horse kicked the prince in the belly, winding him. The prince fell beneath his horse, and his right arm was trampled. He leapt up, drawing his revolver with his left hand, and started to run, but the Zulus outpaced him.{{sfn|Morris|1994|p=529}}

The prince fired three shots from his revolver at his assailants, but he missed each shot. The prince then fired two more shots, albeit slower in order to better aim. However, these, too, missed.<ref>Mwunzane's testimony in Ian Knight (ed) "Kill Me in the Shadows" in 'The Bowden Collection of Anglo-Zulu War Oral History' in Soldiers of the Queen 74 (September 1993) 17.</ref> One of the prince's assailants, a Zulu named Langalibalele, threw his spear at the prince, but missed.<ref>Langalibalele's testimony, 1 June 1880, in Wood Collection (National Archives Depot, Pietermaritzburg) II/1/2, quoted in John Laband ' "He fought like a lion": An assessment of Zulu accounts of the death of the Prince Imperial of France during the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879' (Society for Army Historical Research, Autumn 1998) Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research 76 (307) 194–201 [198–199], {{jstor|44230133}}</ref> Another spear, thrown by a Zulu named Zabanga, struck the prince's left shoulder.{{sfn|Morris|1994|p=530}} The prince tried to fight on, wielding the spear thrown by Langalibalele in his right hand and his revolver in his left.<ref>Langalibalele's testimony, 1 June 1880, Nyadana's testimony, 27 May 1880, & Mphalazi's testimony, 28 May 1880,  in Wood Collection (National Archives Depot, Pietermaritzburg) II/1/2, quoted in John Laband ' "He fought like a lion": An assessment of Zulu accounts of the death of the Prince Imperial of France during the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879' (Society for Army Historical Research, Autumn 1998) Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research 76 (307) 194–201 [198–199], {{jstor|44230133}}</ref> However, weakened by his wounds, the prince sank to the ground and was overwhelmed. Zabanga stabbed the prince again with an [[assegai]], followed by Gwabakana; and then the prince suffered a final blow from Klabawathunga –who stabbed the prince in the right eye –  penetrating the prince's brain and killing him. When the prince's corpse was recovered the next day, it was found naked and an examination by surgeon-major F. B. Scott counted 18 wounds – all of which were stab wounds.<ref>Laband, John. ""He fought like a lion": An assessment of Zulu account of the death of the Prince Imperial of France during the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879". ''Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research''. '''76''' (307): 194–201 [196–197], {{jstor|44230133}} citing a quote attributed to Surgeon-Major F B Scott in Charles L Norris-Newman, 'In Zululand with the British throughout the war of 1879' (London, 1880), appendix H, 301–302.</ref>

According to later testimonies from several of the Zulu men who had participated in the ambush of the prince's patrol, only 8 of the stab wounds were inflicted upon the prince while he was still alive - the remaining 10 stab wounds were done to the prince's corpse. This was due to the ambushers observing the customary Zulu ''hlomula'' ritual, which entailed stabbing the body of an already fallen adversary. The practice was related to the hunt, when all the participants of the hunt were expected to stab the carcass of a particularly formidable kill, like a lion or buffalo. To do the same to a human foe was to acknowledge that he had fought with the ferocity of a dangerous wild animal. Langalibalele confirmed that ''hlomula'' was performed on the prince's corpse because he had "fought like a lion".<ref>Laband, John. ""He fought like a lion": An assessment of Zulu account of the death of the Prince Imperial of France during the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879". ''Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research''. '''76''' (307): 194–201 [200–201] {{jstor|44230133}} citing Langalibalele's testimony, 1 June 1880 in Wood Collection (Natal Archives Depot, Pietermaritzburg), II/1/2.</ref> It also transpired from the testimonies of the prince's Zulu assailants that the prince's corpse was found naked because Klabawathunga had ritually stripped the prince's body of all his apparel, except for a few medals and the locket around the prince's neck which contained a picture of his mother. After giving the prince's clothes to another Zulu man named Dabayane to hold onto, Klabawathunga explained that he personally performed a slight incision on the prince's naked abdomen in order to observe the customary Zulu ''qaqa'' ritual, which was customarily performed on the corpses of slain foes for the purposes of removing a perceived contagious ritual pollution that followed homicide, called ''umnyama'' in isiZulu (meaning 'dark contagion').<ref>Klabawathunga's testimony, 26 May 1880, in Wood Collection (National Archives Depot, Pietermaritzburg) II/1/2, quoted in John Laband ' "He fought like a lion": An assessment of Zulu accounts of the death of the Prince Imperial of France during the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879' (Society for Army Historical Research, Autumn 1998) Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research 76 (307) 194–201 [200], {{jstor|44230133}}.</ref> It was believed that the swelling that occurred in corpses was due to the homicide victim's soul trying but failing to escape the decaying body, and therefore the killer had a duty to make a hole in their victim to allow the soul to escape lest the killer's own body swell like a corpse.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Provan |first=Josh |date=2016-05-30 |title=Isandlwana, The Zulu Victory. Part 4. |url=https://adventuresinhistoryland.com/2016/05/30/isandlwana-the-zulu-victory-part-4/ |access-date=2023-06-06 |website=Adventures In Historyland |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>Laband, John. ""He fought like a lion": An assessment of Zulu account of the death of the Prince Imperial of France during the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879". ''Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research''. '''76''' (307): 194–201 [200–201], {{jstor|44230133}}.</ref> This was the traditional Zulu explanation for the observable swelling of the body which occurs in corpses due to the fermentation of [[butyric acid]] in the gut.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Definition of BUTYRIC FERMENTATION |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/butyric+fermentation |access-date=2023-06-06 |website=www.merriam-webster.com |language=en}}</ref> The prince's bloodstained clothes had meanwhile been removed in order  for Klabawathunga to observe the customary Zulu ritual of ''zila'', where a killer was required to wear their victim's clothes (polluted by the harmful influences of his blood) while observing customary ritual abstentions in order to cleanse themself of the crime of homicide.<ref>Klabawathunga's testimony, 26 May 1880, in Wood Collection (National Archives Depot, Pietermaritzburg) II/1/2, quoted in John Laband ' "He fought like a lion": An assessment of Zulu accounts of the death of the Prince Imperial of France during the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879' (Society for Army Historical Research, Autumn 1998) Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research 76 (307) 194–201 [200], {{jstor|44230133}}.</ref> The Zulus had not looted the prince's jewellery because it was seen as a dishonourable thing to do to a warrior, and because it was believed the prince's spirit would haunt them if they stole the jewellery,<ref>Testimonies of all nine of the Zulus interviewed on 27 May 1880, in Wood Collection (National Archives Depot, Pietermaritzburg) II/1/2, quoted in John Laband ' "He fought like a lion": An assessment of Zulu accounts of the death of the Prince Imperial of France during the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879' (Society for Army Historical Research, Autumn 1998) Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research 76 (307) 194–201 [200–201], {{jstor|44230133}}</ref> which was misconstrued for a magical talisman.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.military-history.org/feature/battle-royal-louis-prince-imperial.htm |title=Battle Royal – Louis, Prince Imperial |date=8 November 2018 |publisher=Military History |accessdate=2022-05-13}}</ref>

Two troopers of the [[Natal Native Contingent|Natal Native Horse]], Abel and Rogers, as well the Zulu guide accompanying them, died with the prince during the Zulu ambush.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Laband |first=John |title="He fought like a lion": An assessment of Zulu account of the death of the Prince Imperial of France during the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44230133 |journal=Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research |year=1998 |volume=76 |issue=307 |pages=194–196 |jstor=44230133 }}</ref> Carey and the four surviving men came together about {{convert|50|yd|-1}} from where the prince made his final stand but did not fire at the Zulus. Carey led his men back to camp. The prince's body was recovered the next day. After a court of inquiry, a court-martial, and intervention by Empress Eugénie and Queen Victoria, Carey returned to his regiment. Carey died in Bombay on 22&nbsp;February 1883.{{citation needed|date=April 2022|reason=this is in line with what I've read, but there still should be a citation here}}

Louis-Napoléon's death caused an international sensation. Rumours spread in France that the prince had been intentionally "disposed of" by the British.{{sfn|Markham|1975|p=210}} Alternatively, the French republicans or the Freemasons were blamed.{{sfn|Morris|1994|p=537}} In one account, Queen Victoria was accused of arranging the whole thing, a theory that was later dramatised by [[Maurice Rostand]] in his play ''Napoleon&nbsp;IV''.{{sfn|Morris|1994|p=537}} The Zulus later claimed that they would not have killed him if they had known who he was. Langalabalele, his chief assailant, was killed in July at the [[Battle of Ulundi]].{{sfn|Morris|1994|p=537}} Eugénie later made a pilgrimage to Sobuza's kraal, where her son had died, and where the [[Prince Imperial Memorial]], paid for by Queen Victoria, had been erected. The prince, who had begged to be allowed to go to war and who had worried his commanders by his dash and daring, was described by [[Garnet Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley]], as "a plucky young man, and he died a soldier's death. What on earth could he have done better?"{{sfn|Wolseley|1922|p=44}}

His remains were brought back to [[Spithead]] on board the British troopship {{HMS|Orontes|1862|6}}, and thence transferred onto HMS ''Enchantress'' for sailing on to [[Royal Arsenal|Woolwich Arsenal]];<ref>{{cite news |title=Funeral of the Late Prince Louis Napoleon: The Arrival of the Remains at Woolwich |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41013260/prince_louis_napoleon_debarkation_of/ |date=19 July 1879 |newspaper=[[The Graphic]] |via=[[Ancestry.com#Newspapers.com|Newspapers.com]] |access-date=24 December 2019}}</ref> overnight, he lay in state in the western octagonal guardhouse by the riverfront. The funeral procession, including Queen Victoria, went from there to [[Chislehurst]], where he was buried in [[St Mary's Church, Chislehurst|St Mary's Catholic Church]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chislehurst - St Mary |url=https://taking-stock.org.uk/building/chiselhurst-st-mary/ |access-date=2024-10-09 |website=Taking Stock |language=en-GB}}</ref> On 9&nbsp;January 1888, his body was transferred to a special mausoleum constructed by his mother as the [[Imperial Crypt (Saint Michael's)|Imperial Crypt]] at [[St Michael's Abbey, Farnborough]], next to his father.

The Prince Imperial had appointed Prince [[Napoléon Victor Bonaparte]] as his heir, thus skipping the genealogically senior heir, Victor's father, [[Napoléon Joseph Charles Paul Bonaparte|Prince Napoléon]].