Line of succession to the former Portuguese throne


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of succession

The Portuguese monarchy was abolished on the 5 October 1910 when King Manuel II was deposed following a republican revolution. The present head of the House of Braganza the former ruling house is, Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza a position he has held since the death of his father Duarte Nuno in 1976. The succession law used for the former Portuguese throne is primogeniture with male heirs taking precedence over female.

Contents

Current line of succession

  1. Prince Afonso de Santa Maria, Prince of Beira (b. 1996), son of above
  2. Infante Dinis, Duke of Porto (b. 1999), son of Duarte Pio de Bragança
  3. Infanta Maria Francisca (b. 1997), daughter of Duarte Pio de Bragança
  4. Infante Miguel, Duke of Viseu (b. 1946), son of Duarte Nuno de Bragança
  5. Infante Henrique, Duke of Coimbra (b. 1949), son of Duarte Nuno de Bragança
  6. Infanta Maria Adelaide de Bragança (b. 1912), daughter of Miguel II de Bragança
  7. Adriano Sérgio de Bragança van Uden (b. 1946), son of Infanta Maria Adelaide de Bragança
  8. Pedro Maria de Sousa e Menezes van Uden (b. 1985), son of above
  9. Mariana de Sousa e Meneses van Uden (b. 1978), daughter of Adriano Sérgio de Bragança van Uden
  10. Ana Rita de Sousa Menezes de Bragança van Uden (b. 1981), daughter of Adriano Sérgio de Bragança van Uden
  11. Nuno Miguel de Bragança van Uden (b. 1947), son of Infanta Maria Adelaide de Bragança
  12. Miguel Maria Bonneville van Uden (b. 1972), son of above
  13. Miguel Maria Lopes van Uden (b. 1997), son of above
  14. Maria Ana do Carmo Lopes van Uden (b. 2001), daughter of Nuno Miguel de Bragança van Uden
  15. Nuno de Santa Maria Bonneville van Uden (b. 1983), son of Nuno Miguel de Bragança van Uden
  16. Mafalda Maria Bonneville van Uden (b. 1970)), daughter of Nuno Miguel de Bragança van Uden
  17. Ana do Carmo Maria Bonneville van Uden (b. 1984), daughter of Nuno Miguel de Bragança van Uden
  18. Francisco Xavier Damiano de Bragança van Uden (b. 1949), son of Infanta Maria Adelaide de Bragança
  19. Afonso Miguel Maria Gil de Braganca van Uden (b. 1980), son of above
  20. Henrique Maria Gil de Bragança van Uden (b. 1987), son of Francisco Xavier Damiano de Bragança van Uden
  21. João Maria Gil de Bragança van Uden (b. 1989), son of Francisco Xavier Damiano de Bragança van Uden
  22. Maria Francisca Gil de Braganca van Uden (b. 1982), daughter of Francisco Xavier Damiano de Bragança van Uden
  23. Miguel Inácio de Bragança van Uden (b. 1953), son of Infanta Maria Adelaide de Bragança
  24. Sebastião Dentinho Van Uden, son of above
  25. Catarina Dentinho van Uden (b. 1978), daughter of Miguel Inácio de Bragança van Uden
  26. Francisco Corrêa de Sá (b. 2005), son of Catarina Dentinho van Uden
  27. Inês Dentinho van Uden (b. 1980), daughter of Miguel Inácio de Bragança van Uden
  28. Filipa Teodora de Bragança van Uden (b. 1951), daughter of Infanta Maria Adelaide de Bragança
  29. Nuno Gregório van Uden Fontes (b. 1976), son of above
  30. Francisco Maria van Uden Fontes (b. 1983), son of Filipa Teodora de Bragança van Uden
  31. Diana van Uden de Atouguia Fontes (b. 1985), daughter of Filipa Teodora de Bragança van Uden
  32. Maria Teresa de Bragança van Uden (b. 1956), daughter of Infanta Maria Adelaide de Bragança
  33. Francisco Maria de Bragança van Uden Chaves (b. 1983), son of above
  34. Xavier Maria de Bragança van Uden Chaves (b. 1985), son of Maria Teresa de Bragança van Uden
  35. Miguel de Bragança van Uden Chaves (b. 1986), son of Maria Teresa de Bragança van Uden
  36. Rodrigo de Bragança van Uden Chaves (b. 1993), son of Maria Teresa de Bragança van Uden
  37. Pedro José Folque de Mendoça Rolim de Moura Barreto 6th Duke of Loulé (b. 1958), great-great-great-great-grandson of João VI de Portugal
  38. Henrique Nuno Vaz Pinto de Mendoça (b. 1997), heir presumptive of the Dukedom of Loulé, son of above
  39. Helena Vaz Pinto de Mendoça (b. 2000), daughter of Pedro José Folque de Mendoça Rolim de Moura Barreto
  40. Henrique Nuno Folque de Mendoça (b. 1964), brother of Pedro José Folque de Mendoça Rolim de Moura Barreto
  41. Maria Cardoso de Menezes Folque de Mendoça (b. 1998), daughter of above
  42. Filipe Alberto Folque de Mendoça, Count of Rio Grande (b. 1967), brother of Pedro José Folque de Mendoça Rolim de Moura Barreto
  43. Rita Mónica Folque de Mendoça (b. 1955), sister of Pedro José Folque de Mendoça Rolim de Moura Barreto
  44. Rodrigo Folque Castanheiro Viana (b. 1995), son of Rita Mónica Folque de Mendoça
  45. Sara de Bettencourt Vasconcelos Correia e Ávila (b. 1977), daughter of Rita Mónica Folque de Mendoça
  46. Diogo Maria Bettencourt de Abreu Castelo Branco (b. 2008), son of above, twin brother of below
  47. João Maria Bettencourt de Abreu Castelo Branco (b. 2008), son of Sara de Bettencourt Vasconcelos Correia e Ávila, twin brother of above
  48. Teresa Bettencourt de Abreu Castelo Branco (b. 2003), daughter of Sara de Bettencourt Vasconcelos Correia e Ávila
  49. Francisca Bettencourt de Abreu Castelo Branco (b. 2005), daughter of Sara de Bettencourt Vasconcelos Correia e Ávila
  50. Teresa de Bettencourt Correia e Ávila (b. 1979), daughter of Rita Mónica Folque de Mendoça
  51. Matilde Bettencourt Ávila dos Santos Augusto (b. 2005), daughter of Teresa de Bettencourt Correia e Ávila
  52. Constança Bettencourt Ávila dos Santos Augusto (b. 2008), daughter of Teresa de Bettencourt Correia e Ávila
  53. Teresa de Jesus Maria Folque de Mendoça (b. 1957), sister of Pedro José Folque de Mendoça Rolim de Moura Barreto
  54. Paula Maria Folque de Mendoça (b. 1959), sister of Pedro José Folque de Mendoça Rolim de Moura Barreto
  55. Frederica Cardoso de Menezes de Mendoça Pimentel (b. 1979), daughter of above
  56. Francisco de Mendoça Teixeira (b. 1998), son of above
  57. Frederico de Mendoça Teixeira (b. 1999), son of Frederica Cardoso de Menezes de Mendoça Pimentel
  58. Helena Cardoso de Menezes de Mendoça Pimentel (b. 1981), daughter of Paula Maria Folque de Mendoça
  59. Joana Frederica Folque de Mendoça (b. 1961), sister of Pedro José Folque de Mendoça Rolim de Moura Barreto

Line of succession as of 1910

At the time of the abolition of the monarchy, the uncontested heirs of king Manuel II were:

  1. Infante Afonso, Duke of Porto, King Manuel's uncle (Afonso Henrique Maria Luís Pedro de Alcántara Carlos Humberto Amadeu Fernando António Miguel Rafael Gabriel Gonzaga Xavier Francisco de Assis João Augusto Júlio Volfando Inácio de Braganca e Saboya), born in Ajuda on 1 July 1865, unmarried
  2. Infanta Antónia, Dowager Princess of Hohenzollern, King Manuel's grandaunt (Antónia Maria Fernanda Micaela Gabriela Rafaela Francisca de Assis Ana Gonzaga Silvina Júlia Augusta de Saxónia-Coburgo-Gotha e Braganca), born in Lisbon on 17 February 1845, youngest surviving daughter of Maria II, queen regnant of Portugal and Algarves, etc., and her second husband Ferdinand II.[1] Infanta Antónia had in 1861 married Leopold, Prince of Hohenzollern and had become a widow in 1905. There is so far no evidence that Infanta Antónia had ever renounced her rights of Portuguese succession, particularly because her husband in 1861 or later was not reigning monarch of any other monarchy, sovereign or otherwise. Infanta Antónia's rights to the Portuguese succession were uncontested, but her children's rights have been contested on basis of them being foreigners; she was grandmother of Princess Augusta Victoria, who afterwards, in 1913, married her second cousin, the deposed king Manuel.

The line after Infanta Antónia was rather murky. Queen Maria II's father Pedro has been alleged to have renounced the succession on behalf of his children other than Maria, and many have theorized whether he actually was entitled to do so, if he ever actually did so. The Portuguese constitution of 1838 (which however had been replaced by reviving the 1826 Constitutional Charter), as well as decrees and treaties in 1834, had specifically excluded all rights of Pedro's younger brother, the Infante Miguel of Portugal, meaning that no one could be in line of succession on basis of descent from him.

Relatively uncontested is that the issue from Pedro's eldest sister, Infanta Teresa, Princess of Beira, were in line of succession (but several individuals from Pedro's lineage may have preceded them):

After all eligible issue of elder children of King John VI of Portugal, persons uncontestedly in line of Portuguese succession existed among issue of John VI's youngest daughter, Infanta Ana de Jesus Maria, who had married the Duke of Loulé. Infanta Ana's senior representative in 1910 was her granddaughter:

Rules of succession

The 1822, 1826 and 1838 constitutions, as well as the 1842 revival of the 1826 constitutional charter, confirmed a feudal, cognatic primogeniture among issue of the then-reigning monarch and in case of its extinction, among collateral descendants of the Braganza dynasty. ("A sucessão da Coroa segue a ordem regular de primogenitura, e representação entre os legítimos descendentes; preferindo sempre a linha anterior às posteriores; na mesma linha, o grau mais próximo ao mais remoto; no mesmo grau, o sexo masculino ao feminino; e no mesmo sexo, a pessoa mais velha à mais nova.") That had been the succession also in earlier customs in Portugal.

After the 1640 rebellion against the Spanish Habsburgs and the accession of the Braganza dynasty, the relevant customary law in Portugal (which is regarded as part of fundamental law of the Portuguese monarchy) excluded kings of other countries from Portuguese succession. However, the customary law did not exclude persons born outside Portugal, nor persons holding positions in other countries (as attested by the fact that during the reign of king Pedro II of Portugal, his second cousin's son Manuel Joaquim Garcia de Braganca, Marquess of Flexilla and Xarandilla (1642–1707), who happened to be Prime Minister of the neighboring Spain, was recognized as the First Prince of the Blood in Portugal, and heir to the Portuguese throne after the (then precarious) issue of king Pedro.

The desire to avoid union with a more dominant country was displayed in some constitutional stipulations, such as article 100 of the 1838 constitution: "No foreigner may succeed the Crown of Portugal" ("Nenhum Estrangeiro pode suceder na Coroa de Portugal").

The 1838 constitution was replaced in 1842 by reviving the 1826 Constitutional Charter of Portugal. Among other things, the 1826 charter stipulated: "Extintas as linhas dos Descendentes legítimos da SENHORA DONA MARIA II, passará a Coroa à collateral".

Since the exile of the royal family, there have been disputes over who are foreigners and who are not.

Portuguese customary law, as well as all the written constitutions, required legitimate birth as prerequisite to be eligible as heir.

The treaty of 1834, decisions ratified by the Cortes and the monarch, and the Constitution of 1838 specifically excluded from succession Michael I and his descendants. It must be noted, however, that the Constitution of 1838 was revoked in 1848, by António Bernardo da Costa Cabral, 1st Marquess of Tomar, restating the Constitution of 1826. This late one was the Constitution of Portugal until 1910, when the republicans made a coup d'état. In 1950, Oliveira Salazar officially revoked the Law of Banishment of 1834, imposed by Peter IV to Michael I.

Notes

  1. ^ It is not altogether clear whether there actually were other persons in line of succession before Infanta Antónia: Antónia's late elder sister Infanta Maria Ana is alleged to have renounced her rights when marrying the youngest son of the then king of Saxony (although the existence of such renunciation is questioned; her bridegroom had an elder brother to succeed in Saxony) and had left a number of children (royal princes and princesses of Saxony). However, Maria Ana's eldest son Frederick August III of Saxony (born at Dresden 25 May 1865) was in 1910 the reigning king of another country, Saxony, and as such seems to have been regarded ineligible to Portuguese succession.
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