Tiny Shoes May Have Been Worn by Pauline Bonaparte

ABERDEEN, SCOTLAND—A petite pair of shoes labeled “Pauline Rome” has been discovered in the collections of the University of Aberdeen. Crafted from silk and leather, the early nineteenth-century slippers may have been worn by Princess Pauline Borghese, sister of Napoleon Bonaparte. The shoes had been given to the museum by Robert Wilson, who was known to have been friendly with the princess. “Letters from him to Pauline show a close friendship and in his diary he describes how she spent a lot of time with him traveling in Italy and gave him many gifts,” said museum staff member Louise Wilkie, who found the shoes in a chest of clothes.