Doña María Eugenia Ignacia Augustina de Palafox y KirkPatrick at La Rhune

Doña María Eugenia Ignacia Augustina de Palafox y KirkPatrick, 16th Countess of Teba, 15th Marchioness of Ardales (5 May 1826 – 11 July 1920), known as Eugénie de Montijo, was the last Empress Consort of the French (1853–71) as the wife of Napoleon III, Emperor of the French.

In 1854, the emperor Napoleon III and Eugénie bought several acres of dunes in Biarritz (Basque Country) and established a summer home surrounded by gardens, woods, meadows, a pond and outbuildings. Napoleon III chose the location near Spain, so his wife would not get homesick for her native country. It was during one of their stays here that the mistaken description ‘Basque Beret’ was uttered by the emperor, believing all these berets seen locally were Basque (they were Béarnais, of course, but who would argue with an emperor?).

After the visit of the Empress Eugenie to the summit of the Rhune on September 30, 1859, the town of Ascain raised an obelisk in white sandstone 5 meters high surmounted by a bronze eagle of 55cm. The obelisk survived with difficulty at the end of the empire of Napoleon III.

In 1881, a foreigner passing by, managed to unseal the engraved plaque, which was found at the beginning of the 20th century in Olhette. It was reinstated in 1928.

It was in the 40s that the eagle disappeared. In 1992, the monument was only two meters high and was in very bad condition. On September 30, 1993 the inauguration of the restoration of the obelisk took place on the anniversary of Empress Eugénie's first trip to the Rhune.