Louis Constant Wairy

Louis Constant Wairy was born in 1778. In 1798, he entered Eugene de Beauharnais's service as a groom. The following year, Josephine took him on at Malmaison. When Bonaparte returned from Egypt, Constant drew his attention by his zeal and discretion. On 6 May 1800, he became the First Consul's valet de chambre. He dressed Napoleon, prepared his bath, watched over his personal effects. In 1806, upon first valet Roustam's resignation, Constant was promoted to first valet de chambre. He held this function until 1814.

Constant saw everything: the mornings when Napoleon dressed in five minutes, the nights of work until dawn, the rages against ministers, the moments of relaxation with Josephine or Marie Louise. He prepared the famous « breakfast » — a cup of coffee, often neglected — and the frugal lunch. He knew the habits, the manias, the sartorial preferences. « The Emperor never wore the same shirt twice », he would note. Constant was the guardian of imperial intimacy.

Constant shared Napoleon's life twenty-four hours a day. He woke him, dressed him, prepared his bath — the Emperor plunged into scalding water, rubbed himself with a horsehair glove. Breakfast was neglected: a cup of coffee, sometimes swallowed on the move. Lunch, served at eleven, was frugal: grilled meat, vegetables, no dessert. Napoleon ate quickly, talked while eating, dictated orders between mouthfuls. Constant saw to the uniforms: the famous « little hat », the grey campaign coat, the boots. The Emperor disliked new clothes; he demanded everything be « broken in » before wearing it. Constant knew every seam.

With Josephine, Napoleon was sometimes tender, sometimes distant. Constant observed the morning scenes: the Empress entering in négligé, the Emperor locking himself in his study. After the divorce, Marie Louise brought a different freshness. Constant served both women with the same deference. He knew the bedrooms, the corridors, the secret passages of the Tuileries and Saint-Cloud. Roustam, the Mameluke, guarded the door; Constant managed the interior. The two men formed an indispensable duo. When Napoleon worked until three in the morning, Constant kept watch. When the Emperor left on campaign, Constant packed the effects — the same everywhere: simplicity and regularity.

The rages were legendary. Napoleon threw an inkwell, overturned a table, thundered against a minister. Constant tidied, cleaned, never commented. He had seen the Emperor in tears — after Duroc's death, after a letter from Josephine. He had seen the joy of the coronation, the pride at the King of Rome's birth. These scenes he would recount in his Memoirs with a precision that still carries authority. « I served a man, not an idol », he would write. Constant did not mythologise: he described. And that is why his testimony remains irreplaceable.

Constant followed Napoleon on all campaigns: Austerlitz, Jena, Eylau, Wagram, the Moskova. He saw to the Emperor's comfort — tents, bivouacs, movements. At the Berezina, he crossed with the rest of the suite. In 1814, when Napoleon abdicated at Fontainebleau, Constant accompanied him to Elba. But he did not stay: he returned to France and entered Marie Louise's service — a decision Napoleon would not forgive him. During the Hundred Days, Constant was not recalled.

After 1815, Constant lived in retirement. In 1830, he published his Memoirs in six volumes — Memoirs of Constant, first valet de chambre of the Emperor, on the private life of Napoleon, his family and his court. The work met with considerable success. Constant described Napoleon's days, his manias, his rages, his moments of tenderness. He died in 1845. His Memoirs remain an irreplaceable source for those who wish to understand the man behind the Emperor — the one who rose at four in the morning, worked sixteen hours a day, and wore a grey uniform worn at the elbows. « Constant knew everything, and he told everything », a historian would summarise.