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| House of Orléans-Braganza Casa de Orléans e Bragança | |
|---|---|
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| Parent house | House of Orléans Brazilian imperial family (House of Braganza) |
| Country | Brazil France |
| Founded | 1864; 161 years ago (1864) |
| Founder | Isabel of Braganza, Princess Imperial of Brazil andPrince Gaston of Orleans, Count of Eu |
| Current head | Vassouras branch: Prince Bertrand of Orléans-Braganza Petrópolis branch: Prince Pedro Carlos of Orléans-Braganza |
| Titles | |
| Estate | Brazil |
TheHouse of Orléans-Braganza (Portuguese:Casa de Orléans e Bragança) is bylegitimacy, theimperial house of Brazil formed in 1864, with themarriage of the heir to the Brazilian throne,Isabel of Braganza withGaston of Orléans, Count of Eu.[a] The House of Orléans-Braganza never reigned, as Brazil's pure Braganza monarch,Emperor Pedro II being deposed in amilitary coup d'état, under the pressure of the civilian republicans, in 1889.[1] However, with the death of Isabel in 1921, as the last Brazilian pure Braganza, her descendants inherited the dynastic rights of the Brigantine dynasty over the defunct Brazilian throne.[2][3]
Currently, the headship of the house is disputed betweenPedro Carlos of Orléans-Braganza, agnatic senior member of the house, head of the so-calledPetrópolis branch, andBertrand of Orléans-Braganza, who heads the so-calledVassouras branch of the Imperial Family. The formation of these branches goes back to the question of the validity of the renunciation of dynastic rights in 1908 byPedro de Alcântara, Prince of Grão-Pará, grandfather of the head of thePetrópolis branch, and whose rights would have been inherited by the younger brotherLuís, Prince Imperial of Brazil, grandfather of the head of theVassouras branch.[4]
In 1864, EmperorPedro II of Brazil was looking for a match to his daughters. The Emperor's sister, thePrincess of Joinville suggested her nephews,Prince Gaston, Count of Eu, andPrince Ludwig August of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, both grandsons of KingLouis Philippe of France, as suitable choices for the imperial princesses. The two young men traveled to Brazil in August 1864 so that the prospective brides and grooms could meet before a final agreement to the marriage. Isabel andLeopoldina were not informed until Gaston and Ludwig August were mid-Atlantic. Arriving in early September, Gaston described the princesses as "ugly", but thought Isabel less so than her sister. For her part, Isabel in her own words "began to feel a great and tender love" for Gaston. The two couples: Gaston and Isabel; Ludwig August and Leopoldina; were engaged on 18 September. On 15 October 1864 atRio de Janeiro, Prince Gaston marriedIsabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil and heiress to the Brazilian throne.
It was from that marriage the royal house ofOrléans-Braganza was formed. The couple had 3 surviving sons which were the first to use the surnameOrléans-Braganza:Pedro de Alcântara, Prince of Grão-Pará,Prince Luís, andPrince Antônio. Both Prince Pedro and Prince Luís have children.
Today they are the present claimants to the throne of the formerEmpire of Brazil, which became extinct with theBrazilian proclamation of the republic, on 15 November 1889 after amilitarycoup d'état headed by MarshallDeodoro da Fonseca, the 1stPresident of Brazil. After the death of Princess Isabel on 1921, the House of Orléans-Braganza became the claimant of the Brazilian throne underPrince Pedro Henrique of Orléans-Braganza.
On 15 November 1889 arepublican coup d'état took place inRio de Janeiro deposing the old Emperor Pedro II and proclaiming the exile of theBrazilian Imperial Family. The imperial family arrived in Lisbon on 7 December 1889. The Orleans-Braganza family moved to southernSpain. Further bad news came from Brazil, as the new government abolished the imperial family's allowances, their only substantial source of income, and declared the family banished. On the back of a large loan from a Portuguese businessman, the imperial family moved into the Hotel Beau Séjour atCannes.[5][6]
In early 1890, Princess Isabel and Prince Gaston moved into a private villa, which was far cheaper than the hotel, but the Emperor refused to accompany them and remained at the Beau Séjour, later moving toParis where he died in 1891.Prince Louis, Duke of Nemours, Gaston's father, provided them with a monthly allowance. By September, they had taken a villa nearVersailles and their sons were enrolled in Parisian schools. Isabel and Gaston purchased a villa inBoulogne-sur-Seine, where they lived an essentially quiet life. Attempts by Brazilian monarchists to restore the crown were unsuccessful, and Isabel lent them only half-hearted support. She thought military action unwise and unwelcome. She correctly assumed that it was unlikely to succeed.
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When Gaston's father died in 1896, an inheritance assured him and Isabel financial security. Their three sons enrolled at a military school inVienna, and Isabel continued her charitable work associated with theCatholic Church. In 1905, Gaston purchased theChâteau d'Eu inNormandy,[7] the former home of his grandfatherKing Louis Philippe I and where he was raised, and the couple furnished it with items received from Brazil in the early 1890s.
In 1907,Prince Luís of Orléans-Braganza, Isabel and Gaston's second son, planned an ambitious project to defy the decree banishing the imperial family from Brazil by traveling to Rio de Janeiro. His sudden arrival created an uproar in the old imperial capital because the arrival was widely circulated in newspapers. It also caused difficulties for Brazilian politicians by placing the imperial family at the center of attention and many Brazilians went to welcome him. However, Luís was prevented from disembarking and was not allowed to set foot on his native land by therepublican government. Nonetheless, he sent his mother a telegram saying: "Hindered of disembarking by the Government, I greet the Redeemer of Slaves on thebay of Guanabara in the eve of May 13."[8]
Next year, following the announcement of imminent, morganatic marriage between his older brotherPedro de Alcântara, Prince of Grão-Pará andCountess Elizabeth Dobrženský von Dobrženitz,[9] Prince Luís, who assumed the title ofPrince Imperial of Brazil, became the heir and marriedPrincess Maria di Grazia of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, his cousin.[10] Both couples had many children.Prince Antônio Gastão of Orléans-Braganza didn't marry.
Soon before theWorld War I, Princes Luis and Antônio, members of theAustro-Hungarian Army with the permission of their uncle-grandpa,Emperor Franz Joseph, disconnected from the military. With the war, they tried to enlist theFrench Army to protect the fatherland of their father, which they adopted but they both was denied because they were part of theFrench Royal Family. The Princes then joined the British armed forces. Prince Antônio died in 1918, soon after the end of the war in an airplane crash. The serious illness contracted in the trenches proved resistant to all treatments and his health gradually deteriorated until the death of Prince Luis 1920.[8]
In 1920, the republican government headed by PresidentEpitácio Pessoa lifted the imperial family's banishment. The next year Prince Gaston and Prince Pedro de Alcântara traveled back to Brazil after 31 years of imposed exile for the reburial of the Emperor andthe Empress inCathedral of Petrópolis. Isabel, the Emperor's daughter and heir andde jure Empress of Brazil was too ill to travel and died in this same year. She was the last pureBraganza heir to the Brazilian throne. After her death, the claim passed to her grandsonPrince Pedro Henrique of Orléans-Braganza, Luis's eldest son. The following year, Prince Gaston, Count of Eu, eventually died a natural death during a journey that would take him back to Brazil to celebrate the first centenary of the country's independence.
While the rest of the Imperial Family remain living in France, in the early 1930s, Prince Pedro acquired theGrão Pará Palace, a former palace of his family, and moved toPetrópolis, back in Brazil. At the time, his eldest daughterPrincess Isabelle of Orléans-Braganza marriedHenri, Count of Paris, heir to the French throne. Prince Pedro died in 1940 in his palace, being the onlyPrince of Brazil to die back in his fatherland. His other daughter PrincessMaria Francisca of Orléans-Braganza marriedDuarte Nuno, Duke of Braganza, heir to the Portuguese throne in 1942.
In 1937, the son of Luís,Prince Pedro Henrique, marriesPrincess Maria Elisabeth of Bavaria, granddaughter ofLudwig III, the lastKing of Bavaria inGermany. They fled the country to avoid theNazis and went to live in a palace in France where they start to have children. The couple moved to Brazil in 1945 soon after the end of the war giving a definite end to the exile.
In 1908,Pedro de Alcântara, Prince of Grão-Pará wanted to marryCountess Elizabeth Dobrženský von Dobrženitz[11](1875–1951) who, although anoblewoman of theKingdom of Bohemia, did not belong to a royal or reigningdynasty. Although the constitution of the Brazilian Empire did not require a dynast to marry equally,[12] his mother ruled that the marriage would not be valid dynastically for the Brazilian succession,[12] and as a result he renounced his rights to the throne ofBrazil on 30 October 1908:[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][10] To solemnize this, Dom Pedro, aged thirty-three, signed the document translated here:
I PrincePedro de Alcântara Luiz Filipe Maria Gastão Miguel Gabriel Rafael Gonzaga of Orléans-Braganza, having maturely reflected, have resolved to renounce the right that, by the Constitution of the Empire of Brazil, promulgated on 25 March 1824, accords to me the Crown of that nation. I declare, therefore, that by my free and spontaneous will I hereby renounce, in my own name, as well as for any and all of my descendants, to all and any rights that the aforesaid Constitution confers upon us to the Brazilian Crown and Throne, which shall pass to the lines which follow mine, conforming to the order of succession as established by article 117. Before God I promise, for myself and my descendants, to hold to the present declaration.Cannes 30 October 1908 signed: Pedro de Alcântara of Orléans-Braganza[20]
This renunciation was followed by a letter from Isabel toroyalists in Brazil:[10][21]
9 November 1908, [Castle of] Eu
Most Excellent Gentlemen Members of the Monarchist Directory,
With all my heart I thank you for the congratulations upon the marriages of my dear children Pedro and Luiz. Luis's took place in Cannes on the 4th with the brilliance that is desired for so solemn an act in the life of my successor to the Throne of Brazil. I was very pleased. Pedro's shall take place next on the 14th. Before the marriage of Luis he signed his resignation to the crown of Brazil, and here I send it to you, while keeping here an identical copy. I believe that this news must be published as soon as possible (you gentlemen shall do it in the way that you judge to be most satisfactory) in order to prevent the formation of parties that would be a great evil for our country. Pedro will continue to love his homeland, and will give all possible support to his brother. Thank God they are very united. Luis will engage actively in everything with respect to the monarchy and any good for our land. However, without giving up my rights I want that he be up to date on everything so that he may prepare himself for the position which with all my heart I desire that one day he will hold. You may write to him as many times as you may want to so that he shall be informed of everything. My strength is not the same as it once was, but my heart is still the same to love my homeland and all those who are so dedicated to us. I give you all my friendship and confidence,
a) Isabel, comtesse d'Eu
After Prince Pedro's renunciation, he lost every royal title he had and his dynastic rights as heir of his mother passed to his brother,Prince Luís of Orléans-Braganza, who becamePrince Imperial of Brazil. However, years later, after Pedro's death in 1940, his eldest sonPedro Gastão of Orléans-Braganza did not accept his father's resignation and again claimed the Brazilian throne in conflict withPrince Pedro Henrique of Orléans-Braganza, son and heir of Prince Luís, dead in 1920. Thus began a dispute for the crown of Brazil. The descendants of Prince Pedro became known as thePetrópolis branch, and the descendants of Prince Luís as theVassouras branch.
After the resignation ofPedro de Alcântara, Prince of Grão-Pará on 1908 to marry a Bohemian noblewoman, he lost his rights and his titles asPrince of Brazil. To maintain the princely status, his father, Prince Gaston of Orleans, as former member of theFrench Royal Family sought the head of this dynasty,Prince Philippe, Duke of Orléans.
Recognizing the principle ofpérégrinité and therefore the impossibility for foreign princes to claim the crown of France,[22][23] the Orléans claimants and their supporters consider excluded from the succession to the throne the foreign descendants of King Louis-Philippe I: the BrazilianOrléans-Braganza (descendants of theComte d'Eu) and the SpanishOrléans-Galliera (descendants ofAntoine, Duke of Montpensier).[24][25]
The agreement of the family in 1909, known as the "Family Pact" (Pacte de Famille) confirms the exclusion of members of these branches from the succession on grounds ofpérégrinité.[25] Further, it "takes note" of a written promise given by the Count of Eu and his son to refrain from asserting any claim to the Crown of France and to the position of Head of the House of France until the total extinction of all the other dynastic branches of the House of France (the Montpensiers were already deemed excluded).[25] According to the pact, the House of France recognized the Brazilian House of Orléans-Braganza as a cadet branch and create to his member the French title ofPrince of Orléans-Braganza.
Alfred de Gramont alleged in his diary,L'ami du Prince, journal of a novel, published by Eric Mension Rigau-Fayard in 2011) that this decision was made by the Orléans for two reasons: first, the desire of other dynasts to exclude the Comte d'Eu and the princes of Orléans-Braganza (who became heirs presumptive to theEmpire of Brazil), and second, the influence of French nationalism. However, exclusion from the succession as a consequence of permanent emigration to Brazil had been acknowledged and accepted in writing by the Count of Eu prior to his marriage to thePrincess Imperial of Brazil.
The list below includes members of the House.
Emperor Dom Pedro II (1825–1891), last monarch of the Empire of Brazil
Dona Isabel, Princess Imperial (1846–1921)Prince Pedro Henrique (1909–1981), he became Head of the Imperial House of Brazil after death of Princess Isabel.Prince Dom Luiz (1938–2022)Prince Dom Bertrand (born 1941)Prince Dom Pedro Gastão (1913–2007)Prince Dom Pedro Carlos (born 1945): He doesn't put in question the validity of the renunciation. Contrariwise, he declared himself a republican.[28]Genealogical tree of the House of Orléans-Braganza, from its origin to the current claimants:
The descendants of Prince Luís of Orléans-Braganza
| Princess Isabel Princess Imperial of Brazil Countess of Eu (1846-1921)  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prince Pedro de Alcântara Prince Imperial of Brazil Prince of Orléans-Braganza (1875-1940)  | Prince Luís Prince Imperial of Brazil Prince of Orléans-Braganza (1878-1920) | Prince Antônio Gastão Prince of Brazil Prince of Orléans-Braganza (1881-1918)  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prince Pedro Henrique Prince and Head of the House of Orléans-Braganza (1909-1981)  | Prince Luiz Gastão Prince Imperial of Brazil Prince of Orléans-Braganza (1911-1931) | Princess Pia Maria Princess Imperial of Brazil Princess of Orléans-Braganza Countess Nicolay (1913-2000)  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prince Luiz Prince and Head of the House of Orléans-Braganza (1938–2022) | Prince Bertrand Prince and Head of the House of Orléans-Braganza (b. 1941) | Princess Isabel Princess of Brazil Princess of Orléans-Braganza (1944–2017)  | Prince Antônio Prince Imperial of Brazil Prince of Orléans-Braganza (1950–2024) | Princess Eleanora Princess of Brazil Princess of Orléans-Braganza Princess of Ligne (b. 1953)  | Seven more Princes of Orléans-Braganza who renounced their dynastic rights | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prince Rafael Antônio Prince Imperial of Brazil Prince of Orléans-Braganza (b. 1986) | Princess Maria Gabriela Princess of Brazil Princess of Orléans-Braganza (b. 1989) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The descendants of Pedro de Alcântara, Prince of Grão-Pará
| Princess Isabel Princess Imperial of Brazil Countess of Eu (1846-1921) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prince Pedro de Alcântara Prince Imperial of Brazil Prince of Orléans-Braganza (1875-1940) | Prince Luís Prince Imperial of Brazil Prince of Orléans-Braganza (1878-1920) | Prince Antônio Gastão Prince of Brazil Prince of Orléans-Braganza (1881-1918) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Princess Isabelle Princess of Orléans-Braganza Countess of Paris (1911-2003)  | Prince Pedro Gastão Prince of Orléans-Braganza (1913-2007)  | Princess Maria Francisca Princess of Orléans-Braganza Duchess of Braganza (1914-1968)  | Prince João Maria Prince of Orléans-Braganza (1916-2005) | Princess Teresa Teodora Princess of Orléans-Braganza (1919-2011)  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prince Pedro Carlos Prince of Orléans-Braganza (b. 1945) | Princess Maria da Glória Princess of Orléans-Braganza former Crown Princess of Yugoslavia (b. 1946) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coat of arms | Title | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| Head of the Imperial Family | 1889–present |
| 1822–present | |
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| 1909–present |
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Most members of the Imperial House live in rented apartments in wealthy neighbourhoods, private mansions, or in Europe. Some of them, likeEleanora, Princess of Ligne [es], live in the royal houses of their spouses.[citation needed]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)House of Orléans-Braganza Cadet branch of theHouse of Orléans | ||
| Preceded by House of Braganza as the reigning house | — TITULAR — Claimant House of the Brazilian monarchy 1921–present Reason for succession failure: Brazilian monarchy abolished in 1889 | Incumbent |
Heads of theImperial House of Brazil since the abolition of the monarchy in 1889 | ||
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| House of Braganza | .svg) | |
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Consorts are initalics - * member of thePortuguese royal family | ||
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