Synopsis
After his defeat at the battle of Waterloo in 1815, the French Emperor Napoleon I has been exiled to St Helena – an island in the South of the Atlantic Ocean. William Balcombe, Superintendent of the East India Company of the island, agrees to the Emperor’s request for a temporary stay at his home, The Briars. Elder daughter Jane soon starts giving Napoleon English lessons. After initial misgivings, her refreshingly uninhibited younger sister Betsy, falls for the charms of the suave imperial visitor and his French entourage.
Everything takes a turn for the worse with the arrival on St Helena of Sir Hudson Lowe, the new Governor. The Emperor receives orders to depart immediately for Longwood, where he is to be guarded around the clock by 3,000 British soldiers. What happens there – suspicious deaths, escape plans, dangerous liaisons – remains shrouded in mystery to this day.
Relive the last period of Napoleon’s life in exile on St. Helena and the fascinating Australian link where the Balcombes established The Briars in Mt. Martha.