C. M. MAYO
Author of The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire, etc.


C.M. Mayo < Publications <


Research < Photos <

Rosedale, Washington D.C.'s Historic Estate
Photo by C.M. Mayo

Who knew that Mexico once had a half-American prince? Or that this little boy’s future was hotly debated not just in Mexico but in Washington D.C. and in every court in Europe? Set in the mid-19th century when Maximilian von Habsburg was Emperor of Mexico, The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire (Unbridled Books, 2009) is based on the true and never before completely told story about a half-American, half-Mexican boy who, as in a fairytale, became a prince and then a pawn in the struggle-to-the-death over Mexico's destiny.

The prince's mother, Alice Green, grew up at Rosedale, the estate founded by her grandfather, General Uriah Forrest. In 1855, she and Angel de Iturbide, second son of Mexico's Emperor Iturbide, were married in the parlor, with General Juan Nepomuceno Almonte, then serving as Mexico's ambassador to Washington, as a guest of honor. Soon thereafter, the newlyweds went to live in Mexico City, where their only child, Agustin, was born in 1863. In late 1866 and 1867, nearing the end of the Second Empire, they lived for a time at Rosedale, while they continued to lobby for the return on their son and later, the permission to return to Mexico. (Some of Angel de Iturbide's letters to Matías Romero and Benito Juárez, sent from Rosedale "Near Georgetown, DC" are in the Matías Romero archives at the Banco de Mexico.) More about Rosedale's history coming soon... and more photos as well... to see more photos, click on some of the links below....

>Read the opening chapter of the novel, "The Darling of Rosedale"

>Listen to C.M. Mayo's lecture at the Historical Society of Washington DC, October 18, 2009
A presentation of the the novel, The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire, with special emphasis on Washington DC history (notably Georgetown and Rosedale, the historical estate in Cleveland Park) and an overview of the author's research in the Historical Society of Washington DC.








Note: For more about Rosedale, see Louise Mann-Kenney's deeply researched and excellent history, Rosedale: The Eighteenth Century Country Estate of General Uriah Forrest, Cleveland Park, Washington, D.C. (privately published, 1989). Note: this book can be purchased from the Cleveland Park Historical Society. More information here.



Read more about Rosedale on-line at:
The Rosedale Conservancy: "Rosedale's History"
This mentions the curious coincidence that in 2000, another child whose disputed custody became international scandal, the Cuban boy Elian González, lived at Rosedale for some months. According to this webpage, "[l]ore has it that President Clinton also made a loan to the family— his dog, Buddy, who proceeded to chew up the mullions on the Farmhouse's front windows."

"Rosedale: Development When the Neighbors Take Charge" by Denise Liebowitz, Architecture DC, Fall 2006

Cleveland Park Historical Society's "A Brief History of Cleveland Park"

And search the catalog for works on Rosedale at:
Historical Society of Washington DC: "Search the Catalog"

See also my post at the Maximilian ~ Carlota Blog, April 19, 2011: "Rosedale, the Historic Washington DC Estate"
Includes an extensive list of newspaper articles about Rosedale.