Prince Pedro Henrique of Orléans-Braganza


Prince Pedro Henrique of Orléans-Braganza, was a great-grandson of the last emperor of Brazil, Pedro II, and one of two claimants to the abolished throne.

Early life in Europe

He was born in 1909 in France at Boulogne-sur-Seine during the exile of the Brazilian imperial family, which had been deposed in 1889. His father, Prince Luiz of Orléans-Braganza, was the second son of the heir to the defunct Brazilian throne, the Princess Imperial Isabel, and Prince Gaston, Count of Eu. His mother was Princess Maria Pia of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. The year before Pedro Henrique's birth, she recognized his father, Luiz, as the heir to the succession when Luiz's elder brother, Pedro de Alcântara, Prince of Grão-Pará, renounced his claim to the throne on behalf of himself and his descendants.
Thus, at birth Pedro Henrique became claimant to the title of Prince of Grão-Pará, according to Article 105 of the defunct Constitution of 1824. He was baptized in the chapel of the Château d'Eu with the waters of the fountain taken from Largo da Carioca, in Rio de Janeiro. His godparents were his paternal grandmother, Princess Isabel of Brazil, and maternal grandfather Prince Alfonso, Count of Caserta, Head of the royal house of the Two Sicilies. He and his family lived between the Eu castle and a palace in Boulogne-sur-Seine, both belonging to the Imperial Family. He was raised primarily by his paternal grandmother, and numerous preceptors educated him as future emperor of Brazil.
In 1920, his father died in Cannes of injuries acquired in the trenches of the First World War. In 1920 Brazil's banishment of the Orléans-Braganzas was revoked by the then President Epitácio Pessoa. Pedro Henrique accompanied Count d'Eu when he led part of the Imperial Family back to Brazil, without the aged and infirm Princess Isabel. Grandfather and grandson soon returned to Europe.
Upon the death of his father in 1920 Pedro Henrique became claimant to the title of Prince Imperial, but on 14 November 1921 Princess Isabel died at the Castle d'Eu. So, at age of 12 Prince Pedro Henrique became the head of the imperial family. Had he became emperor, his imperial name would be Dom Pedro III.
He continued living in France with his mother, Princess Maria Pia, where she thought he could get a better education with his siblings Luiz Gastão and Pia Maria. Pedro Henrique was educated at the Ecôle des Sciences Politiques in Paris. He was described by his grandmother as "a very intelligent child".
In 1925, at the age of 16, the Brazilian government ruled against his request to serve in the military.

Life in Brazil

Pedro de Alcântara died in 1940.
Pedro Henrique was only able to return to Brazil in 1945, when the Second World War ended. He settled first in Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro, in the palace of the Grão-Pará, and then in the neighborhood of Retiro, also in Petrópolis. His cousin, Prince Pedro Gastão of Orléans-Braganza, the eldest son of Pedro de Alcântara, Prince of Grão-Pará, challenged Pedro Henrique's claim to the succession in 1946, on the basis that his father's renunciation had no legal force.
In 1951, D. Pedro Henrique bought a farm, Fazenda Santa Maria, in the town of Jacarezinho, interior of Paraná. In 1965, he returned to Rio de Janeiro, settling in Vassouras, an important city in the days of Empire for coffee production. Pedro Henrique resided at a site called Santa Maria until the end of his life. He was active in the monarchist movement.
On his death in 1981, Pedro Henrique's claim to the throne passed to his eldest son, Luiz.

Titles and honors

Titles

Dom Pedro Henrique was Grand Master of the following Brazilian dynastic orders:
He was a recipient of the following foreign honors:
Pedro Henrique married Princess Maria Elisabeth of Bavaria at Nymphenburg Palace, Bavaria, on 19 August 1937. They had twelve children: