Balding and stocky, and wearing a richly embroidered uniform befitting his rank, Napoleon is set to land again on the British South Atlantic island of St Helena.
The little emperor, played by a local called Merrill Joshua, will step ashore on the small quay at Jamestown as he did 200 years ago today to begin his exile.
Saints, as the islanders are known, will dress for the occasion and witness a recreation of his walk to the square beside the Castle, the seat now, as then, of British rule.
For one of Britain’s oldest overseas territories this is a momentous occasion, and the British and French governments are taking the event seriously enough for the Royal Navy to have dispatched the frigate HMS Lancaster and the tanker RFA Gold Rover to the island to mark it. A French delegation will be led by the ambassador, Jean Mendelson.
In 1815 Napoleon had stepped on to St Helena at dusk from a barge after two months cooped up on the British warship HMS Northumberland, walked slowly down a line of silent, gawping spectators and sentries with fixed bayonets, and gazed up at the cliffs glowering menacingly either side of the town.
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The tiny Atlantic island, 1,200 miles from the nearest land, was to be his home until his death six years later.
For a man who once bestrode Europe, and was arguably the greatest military commander the continent had known, it was the beginning of a rancorous exile that lasted until his death on May 5, 1821, aged 51. France and Britain will come together today in a service of remembrance, reconciliation and camaraderie at the tomb in “Geranium Valley” where Napoleon’s body lay for 19 years until it was shipped home and re-interred with full state pomp at Les Invalides in Paris. There will be prayers, military salutes and careful diplomatic wording to gloss over the bitter quarrels and terse exchanges between the fallen emperor and his large entourage and his jailer, the governor Sir Hudson Lowe. More wreaths will be laid on the simple stone tomb, left without an inscription because Britain and France could not agree on the wording.
In 1821 some 2,000 British soldiers, sailors and marines were on duty for his funeral, lining the route to the burial site from Longwood House, the comfortable farmhouse provided for Napoleon and the loyal generals and staff who followed him into exile.
Mark Capes, the present governor, declared that “today Napoleon’s legacy is a valued part of St Helena’s rich history”.
That value may soon be measured in hard cash. When a new £213 million airport opens in the spring, the islanders are hoping that French tourists and Napoleon enthusiasts will arrive in force.