Napoleon and the Idea of a Coronation

Napoleon was happy to let the press and public chatter about the idea of a coronation, but he didn't want anyone to get the impression that the idea was getting serious ideration from his government. Just because napoleon didn't want the idea discussed in his presence doesn't mean he wasn't thinking about it in private. I think the idea of becoming a monarch had probably crossed his mind many times, probably first as fantasy, then increasingly as a real possibility.