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The House of Orleans-Braganza ( Portuguese : Casa de Orleans e Braganca ) is by legitimacy , the imperial house of Brazil formed in 1864, with the marriage of the heir to the Brazilian throne , Isabel of Braganza with Prince Gaston, Count of Eu . ^[a] The House of Orleans-Braganza never reigned, as Brazil's pure Braganza monarch, Emperor Pedro II being deposed in a military coup d'etat , 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 between Pedro Carlos of Orleans-Braganza  [ es ] , agnatic senior member of the house, head of the so-called Petropolis branch, and Bertrand of Orleans-Braganza , who heads the so-called Vassouras 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 by Pedro de Alcantara, Prince of Grao-Para , grandfather of the head of the Petropolis Branch, and whose rights would have been inherited by the younger brother Luis, Prince Imperial of Brazil , grandfather of the head of the Vassouras Branch. ^[4]

History [ edit ]

In 1864, the Emperor Pedro II of Brazil was looking for a match to his daughters. The Emperor's sister, Princess of Joinville suggested her nephews, Prince Gaston, Count of Eu , and Prince Ludwig August of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha , both grandsons of King Louis 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 and Leopoldina were not informed until Gaston and 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; August and Leopoldina; were engaged on 18 September. On 15 October 1864 at Rio de Janeiro , Prince Gaston married Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil and heiress of the Empire.

It was from that marriage the royal house of Orleans-Braganza was formed. The couple had 3 surviving sons which were the first to use the surname Orleans-Braganza : Pedro de Alcantara, Prince of Grao-Para , Prince Luis and Prince Antonio . Both Prince Pedro and Prince Luis have children.

Today they are the present claimants to the throne of the former Empire of Brazil , which became extinct with the Brazilian proclamation of the republic , on 15 November 1889 after a military coup d'etat headed by Marshall Deodoro da Fonseca , the 1st President of Brazil . After the death of Princess Isabel on 1921, the House of Orleans-Braganza became the claimant of the Brazilian throne under Prince Pedro Henrique of Orleans-Braganza .

Exile [ edit ]

On 15 November 1889 a republican coup d'etat took place in Rio de Janeiro deposing the old Emperor Pedro II and proclaiming the exile of the Brazilian Imperial Family . The imperial family arrived in Lisbon on 7 December 1889. The Orleans-Braganza family moved to southern Spain . 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 Sejour at Cannes . ^{[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 Sejour, later moving to Paris 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 near Versailles and their sons were enrolled in Parisian schools. Isabel and Gaston purchased a villa in Boulogne-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.

When Gaston's father died in 1896, an inheritance assured him and Isabel financial security. Their three sons enrolled at a military school in Vienna , and Isabel continued her charitable work associated with the Catholic Church . In 1905, Gaston purchased the Chateau d'Eu in Normandy , ^[7] the former home of her grandfather King 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 Luis of Orleans-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, Luis was prevented from disembarking and was not allowed to set foot on his native land by the republican government . Nonetheless, he sent his mother a telegram saying: "Hindered of disembarking by the Government, I greet the Redeemer of Slaves on the bay of Guanabara in the eve of May 13." ^[8]

Next year, following the announcement of imminent, morganatic marriage between his older brother Pedro de Alcantara, Prince of Grao-Para and Countess Elisabeth Dobr?ensky de Dobr?enicz , ^[9] Prince Luis, who assumed the title of Prince Imperial of Brazil , became the heir and married Princess Maria di Grazia of Bourbon-Two Sicilies , his cousin. ^[10] Both couples had many children. Prince Antonio Gastao of Orleans-Braganza didn't marry.

Soon before the World War I , Princes Luis and Antonio, members of the Austro-Hungarian Army with the permission of their uncle-grandpa, the Emperor Franz Joseph , disconnected from the military. With the war, they tried to enlist the French Army to protect the fatherland of their father, which they adopted but they both was denied because they were part of the French Royal Family . The Princes then joined the British armed forces. Prince Antonio 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 President Epitacio Pessoa lifted the imperial family's banishment. The next year Prince Gaston and Prince Pedro de Alcantara traveled back to Brazil after 31 years of imposed exile for the reburial of the Emperor and the Empress in Cathedral of Petropolis . Isabel, the Emperor's daughter and heir and de jure Empress of Brazil was too ill to travel and died in this same year. She was the last pure Braganza heir to the Brazilian throne. After her death, the claim passed to her grandson Prince Pedro Henrique of Orleans-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 independence.

While the rest of the Imperial Family remain living in France, in the early 1930s, Prince Pedro acquired the Grao Para Palace , a former palace of his family, and moved to Petropolis , back in Brazil . At the time, his eldest daughter Princess Isabelle of Orleans-Braganza married Henri, Count of Paris , heir to the French throne. Prince Pedro died in 1940 in his palace, being the only Prince of Brazil to die back in his fatherland. Her another daughter Princess Maria Francisca of Orleans-Braganza married Duarte Nuno, Duke of Braganza , heir to the Portuguese throne in 1942.

In 1937, the son of Luis Prince Pedro Henrique marries Princess Maria Elisabeth of Bavaria , granddaughter of Ludwig III , the last King of Bavaria in Germany . They fled the country to avoid the Nazis 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.

Renunciation and Division [ edit ]

In 1908, Pedro de Alcantara, Prince of Grao-Para wanted to marry Countess Elisabeth Dobr?ensky de Dobr?enicz ^[11] (1875?1951) who, although a noblewoman of the Kingdom of Bohemia , did not belong to a royal or reigning dynasty . 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 of Brazil 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 Prince Pedro de Alcantara Luiz Filipe Maria Gastao Miguel Gabriel Rafael Gonzaga of Orleans and 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 Alcantara of Orleans-Braganza ^[20]

This renunciation was followed by a letter from Isabel to royalists 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 Luis of Orleans-Braganza , who became Prince Imperial of Brazil . However, years later, after Pedro's death in 1940, his eldest son did not accept his father's resignation and again claimed the Brazilian throne in conflict with Prince Pedro Henrique of Orleans-Braganza , son and heir of Prince Luis, dead in 1920. Thus began a dispute for the crown of Brazil. The descendants of Prince Pedro became known as the Petropolis Branch , and the descendants of Prince Luis as the Vassouras Branch .

The Family Pact of 1909 [ edit ]

After the resignation of Pedro de Alcantara, Prince of Grao-Para on 1908 to marry a Bohemian noblewoman, he lost his rights and his titles as Prince of Brazil . To maintain the princely status, his father, Prince Gaston of Orleans, as former member of the French Royal Family sought the head of this dynasty, Prince Philippe, Duke of Orleans .

Recognizing the principle of peregrinite and therefore the impossibility for foreign princes to claim the crown of France, ^{[22] [23]} the Orleans claimants and their supporters consider excluded from the succession to the throne the foreign descendants of King Louis-Philippe I: the Brazilian Orleans-Braganza (descendants of the Comte d'Eu ) and the Spanish Orleans-Galliera (descendants of Antoine, 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 of peregrinite . ^[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 Orleans-Braganza as a cadet branch and create to his member the French title of Prince of Orleans-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 Orleans for two reasons: first, the desire of other dynasts to exclude the Comte d'Eu and the princes of Orleans-Braganza (who became heirs presumptive to the Empire 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 the Princess Imperial of Brazil .

Members [ edit ]

The list below includes members of the House.

Vassouras line [ edit ]

Petropolis line [ edit ]

Genealogy [ edit ]

Genealogical tree of the House of Orleans-Braganza, from its origin to the current claimants:

Vassouras line [ edit ]

The descendants of Prince Luis of Orleans-Braganza

Princess Isabel Princess Imperial of Brazil Countess of Eu (1846-1921)

Prince Pedro de Alcantara Prince Imperial of Brazil Prince of Orleans-Braganza (1875-1940)

Prince Luis Prince Imperial of Brazil Prince of Orleans-Braganza (1878-1920)

Prince Antonio Gastao Prince of Brazil Prince of Orleans-Braganza (1881-1918)

Prince Pedro Henrique Prince and Head of the House of Orleans-Braganza (1909-1981)

Prince Luiz Gastao Prince Imperial of Brazil Prince of Orleans-Braganza (1911-1931)

Princess Pia Maria Princess Imperial of Brazil Princess of Orleans-Braganza Countess Nicolay (1913-2000)

Prince Luiz Prince and Head of the House of Orleans-Braganza (1938?2022)

Prince Bertrand Prince and Head of the House of Orleans-Braganza (b. 1941)

Princess Isabel Princess of Brazil Princess of Orleans-Braganza (1944?2017)

Prince Antonio Prince Imperial of Brazil Prince of Orleans-Braganza (b. 1950)

Princess Eleanora Princess of Brazil Princess of Orleans-Braganza Princess of Ligne (b. 1953)

Seven more Princes of Orleans-Braganza who renounced their dynastic rights

Prince Rafael Antonio Prince of Grao-Para Prince of Orleans-Braganza (b. 1986)

Princess Maria Gabriela Princess of Brazil Princess of Orleans-Braganza (b. 1989)

Petropolis line [ edit ]

The descendants of Pedro de Alcantara, Prince of Grao-Para

Princess Isabel Princess Imperial of Brazil Countess of Eu (1846-1921)

Prince Pedro de Alcantara Prince Imperial of Brazil Prince of Orleans-Braganza (1875-1940)

Prince Luis Prince Imperial of Brazil Prince of Orleans-Braganza (1878-1920)

Prince Antonio Gastao Prince of Brazil Prince of Orleans-Braganza (1881-1918)

Princess Isabelle Princess of Orleans-Braganza Countess of Paris (1911-2003)

Prince Pedro Gastao Prince of Orleans-Braganza (1913-2007)

Princess Maria Francisca Princess of Orleans-Braganza Duchess of Braganza (1914-1968)

Prince Joao Maria Prince of Orleans-Braganza (1916-2005)

Princess Teresa Teodora Princess of Orleans-Braganza (1919-2011)

Prince Pedro Carlos Prince of Orleans-Braganza (b. 1945)

Princess Maria da Gloria Princess of Orleans-Braganza former Crown Princess of Yugoslavia (b. 1946)

Armorial [ edit ]

Coat of arms	Title	Tenure
	Head of the Imperial Family	1889-Present
	Prince Imperial of Brazil	1822?present
	Prince of Grao-Para
	Prince of Brazil
	Prince of Orleans-Braganza	1909?present

Estates and properties [ edit ]

• 
  Imperial Palace of Sao Cristovao , Rio de Janeiro
• 
  Imperial Palace of Petropolis , Petropolis
• 
  Imperial Palace of Rio de Janeiro , Rio de Janeiro
• 
  Guanabara Palace , Rio de Janeiro
• 
  Imperial Santa Cruz Estate , Santa Cruz
• 
  Palace of Grao-Para , Petropolis
• 
  Boa Vista Estate , Rio de Janeiro
• 
  Chateau d'Eu , Eu

Most members of the Imperial House live in rented apartments in wealthy neighbourhoods, private mansions, or in Europe. Some of them, like Eleanora, Princess of Ligne  [ es ] , live in the royal houses of their spouses. ^{[ citation needed ]}

See also [ edit ]

• Brazilian Imperial Family
• List of Brazilian monarchs

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

Bibliography [ edit ]

• Janoti, Maria de Lourdes Monaco (1986). Os Subversivos da Republica [ The Republic's Subversives ] (in Brazilian Portuguese). Sao Paulo : Brasiliense.

External links [ edit ]

• CoinsHome - Family Tree of the House of Braganza

Royal House House of Orleans-Braganza Cadet branch of the House of Orleans
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