Isabel, Duchess of Braganza

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Portuguese Royal Family House of Braganza

HRH The Duke of Braganza HRH The Duchess of Braganza HRH The Prince of Beira HH The Infanta Maria Francisca HH The Duke of Porto HH The Duke of Viseu HH The Duke of Coimbra HH Infanta Maria Adelaide
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Dona Isabel Inês de Castro Curvelo de Herédia of the Viscounts da Ribeira Brava (born November 22, 1966 in Lisbon), daughter of Architect Jorge de Herédia and wife Raquel Leonor Pinheiro Curvelo, is the wife of Duarte Pio, Duke of Bragança, current pretender to the Portuguese throne and Duchess of Bragança. Portugal is a Republic, but monarchists grant her the style of HRH The Duchess of Braganza.

Dona Isabel de Herédia lived between Portugal and Angola until 1975, when her family moved to São Paulo, Brazil. She studied in the Jesuit Colégio São Luís until 1988. In 1990, she obtained a MBA from the Universidade Getúlio Vargas and returned to Portugal to a job in BMF — Sociedade de Gestão de Patrimónios, S.A. She specialized as an asset manager. In May 13, 1995 she married the Duke of Bragança and quit her professional life to dedicate herself to the family. The couple have three children:

Afonso de Santa Maria de Bragança, Prince of Beira (b. 1996)
Maria Francisca Isabel de Bragança, Infanta of Portugal (b. 1997)
Dinis de Santa Maria de Bragança, Duke of Porto (b. 1999)

Since 1995, Dona Isabel Herédia is a patron of several charity institutions, mainly concerned with the help and support of uncared children and awareness of diseases like Down syndrome. The Duchess of Bragança is Great Master of a Portuguese Chivalry Order (Ordem Real de Santa Isabel).