WI: Napoleon, Prince Imperial, survives?

[Geordie]

Assuming that the unrecognised Napoleon IV survives his trip to Africa, and covers himself in at least some renown, what is there in his future?

Is there any real modicum of Bonapartist support in the hexagon that he could have harnessed? Could there have been, given a surviving Prince Imperial? Do any of the crises the Republic went through offer a route to power? The alternate historian's favourite, Boulanger springs to mind, but my knowledge of 19th century France is pitiful.

How would the neighbours react to another Bonapartist restoration?

Is he more likely to remain here he is, a curio in British service? Any thoughts?

 

[Avian Overlord]

I don't think many people were inclined to have yet another Napoleonic coup after 1870.

 

[Aznavour]

Last chance for a Restoration was Henri, Comte de Chambord, in the 1870s, and from what I understand, he rejected it for his own reasons.

1871 was too big a disaster for the Bonapartists to recover from, even if they had had better leaders than Plon-Plon and Prince Victor. (And given that he ignored all advice to go and fight in the Zulu War, of all things, I hardly think Napoleon IV counts as “better leadership”)

Now, this might or might not affect 1880s French politics, and one might link the guy to Boulanger (who was all bluster and no substance, so still unlikely to succeed) to the Dreyfuss Affair or whatnot, but ultimately, monarchism is on the decline as the century grows closer to its end.