Prince Pedro Gastão of Orléans-Braganza

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Pretender
Pedro Gastão
Born 19 February 1913
Eu, Seine-Maritime, France
Died December 27, 2007 (aged 94)
Villamanrique de la Condesa, Seville, Spain
Title(s) Prince of Orléans-Braganza
Throne(s) claimed Brazil
Pretend from 29 January 194027 December 2007
Monarchy abolished 15 November 1889
Last monarch Pedro II
Connection with great-grandson
Royal House Orléans-Braganza
Father Prince Pedro de Alcantara of Orléans-Braganza
Mother Countess Elisabeth Dobrzensky of Dobrzenicz
Spouse Princess Maria de la Esperanza of the Two Sicilies
Children Prince Pedro Carlos
Princess Maria da Gloria
Prince Afonso Duarte
Prince Manuel Álvaro
Princess Cristina Maria
Prince Francisco Humberto
Successor Prince Pedro Carlos of Orléans-Braganza

Prince Pedro Gastão of Orléans-Braganza (born Pedro de Alcántara Gastão João Maria Filipe Lourenço Humberto Miguel Gabriel Rafael Gonzaga de Orléans e Bragança) (19 February 191327 December 2007)[1] was one of two claimants to the Brazilian throne as titular Emperor of Brazil, and head of the Petrópolis branch of the Brazilian Imperial House. [2]

Contents

[edit] Biography

Prince Pedro Gastão was the son of Prince Pedro de Alcantara of Orléans-Braganza and Countess Elisabeth Dobrzensky of Dobrzenicz. He was born in Eu, France. He spent his youth in Europe and at his family's Parisian home in the Boulogne sur Seine suburb: "I have very good memories of my grandparents...In exile in France I was always brought up thinking of Brazil not France or Portugal."[3]

A few years before his death Pedro Gastão’s father Prince Pedro de Alcantara told a Brazilian newspaper:

“My resignation was not valid for many reasons: besides, it was not a hereditary resignation.”[4]

Following the death of his father supported by Infante Alfonso, Duke of Calabria and Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona he declared himself head of the Imperial Family of Brazil.[4] His position was supported by Francisco Morato the professor of the faculty of Law at the University of São Paulo who concluded the resignation of Pedro Gastão’s father was not a valid legal or monarchical act. Professor Paulo Napoleão Nogueira da Silva in the 1990’s published a report saying that the resignation of his father was invalid under all possible aspects of Brazilian Law.[4]

He represented a rival claim to that of his cousin's son, Prince Luís of Orléans-Braganza, to be the heir of the deposed Emperor Pedro II of Brazil, despite the renunciation signed by his father in 1908 when he married, without dynastic approval, a Bohemian noblewoman.[5]

In 1945 Pedro relinquished to his sister Princess Maria Francisca of Orléans-Braganza and her heirs his claim to the title Duke of Braganza. The title had been created in 1816 in favor of his great-great-grandfather Emperor Pedro I of Brazil. It had, in fact, been claimed and used in exile as a title of pretence by the Miguelist pretenders to the Portuguese throne since 1834. It is currently borne by the eldest son of Francisca by her late husband, Duarte Nuno, Duke of Braganza.

Pedro Gastão died aged 94 on 27 December 2007.

[edit] Marriage and children

He married Princess Maria de la Esperanza of the Two Sicilies (1914-2005), a daughter of Prince Carlos of the Two Sicilies and Princess Louise of Orléans, on 18 December 1944 in Seville, Spain, and had six children:[6]


[edit] Ancestors

[edit] References

Styles of
Pedro Gastão of Orléans-Braganza
Reference style His Imperial and Royal Highness
Spoken style Your Imperial and Royal Highness
Alternative style Sir
  1. ^ Morre na Espanha dom Pedro Gastão de Orleans e Bragança
  2. ^ Handler, Bruce (March 5, 1989). "Brazil to Decide on Return of Monarchy". Los Angeles Times: p.34. 
  3. ^ Bailey, Anthony (January 1998). "Dom Pedro and the lost empire". Royalty: pp. 54–59. 
  4. ^ a b c Bodstein, Astrid (2006). "The Imperial Family of Brazil". Royalty Digest Quarterly (3). 
  5. ^ The Amazon Throne
  6. ^ Genealogy of Prince Pedro Gastão

[edit] External links

Prince Pedro Gastão of Orléans-Braganza
Cadet branch of the House of Orléans
Born: 19 February 1913 Died: 27 December 2007
Titles in pretence
Preceded by
— TITULAR —
Emperor of Brazil
29 January 194027 December 2007
Succeeded by
Prince Pedro Carlos
Imperial coat of arms of Brazil
Pretenders to the Brazilian
throne since 1889
Empire of Brazil

Emperor Pedro II (1889-1891)
Princess Imperial Isabel (1891-1921)
Vassouras
Prince Pedro Henrique (1921-1981)
Prince Luís (1981-)
Petrópolis
Prince Pedro Gastão (1940-2007)
Prince Pedro Carlos (2007-)

See also Brazilian Imperial House