Betsy and Napoleon

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BBC Radio 4 Extra

Betsy and Napoleon: Episode 1

Episode 1

BBC Radio 4 Extra - Betsy and Napoleon, Episode 1

Betsy Balcombe was 13 when Napoleon Bonaparte came to live in her garden on St Helena.

1815: Betsy Balcombe was 13 when the defeated Napoleon Bonaparte came to live in her garden on St Helena. Stars Alex Jennings.

1815: Betsy Balcombe was 13 when Napoleon Bonaparte came to live in her garden on St Helena. 

The two forged an extraordinary relationship. 

Drawn from contemporary accounts, Julia Blackburn's five-part drama recreates the meeting of innocence and a great burden of experience.

As Betsy is the only one to speak French, she takes the role of intermediary between the Emperor and the islanders.

Napoleon ... Alex Jennings
Betsy ... Michelle Tate
Balcombe ... Ian McNeice
Las Cases ... Rupert Wickham

Director: Mary Ward Lowery

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2005.

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Drama: Historical

The story of the relationship between Napoleon and Betsy Balcombe

The story of the relationship between Napoleon and Betsy Balcombe, the daughter of his jailer, on St Helena.

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