Prince Luiz of Orléans-Braganza

Luiz Gastão Maria José Pio Miguel Gabriel Rafael Gonzaga de Orléans e Bragança e Wittelsbach (born 6 June 1938) is the head of the Vassouras branch of the House of Orléans-Braganza and a claimant to the defunct Brazilian throne. The Vassouras branch claims the throne in opposition to the Petrópolis branch of the Orléans-Braganzas, headed by Pedro Carlos of Orléans-Braganza. Though both Luiz and Pedro Carlos are great-great-grandchildren of Emperor Pedro II of Brazil, of the House of Braganza, they dispute leadership over the Brazilian Imperial Family due to a dynastic dispute concerning their fathers, who were cousins.

Not to be confused with Prince Luís of Orléans-Braganza (1878–1920) or Prince Luís Gastão of Orléans-Braganza.
Luiz Gastão of Braganza
Head of the Imperial House of Brazil
(disputed)
Pretence5 July 1981 – present
PredecessorPedro Henrique
Heir presumptiveBertrand
Born (1938-06-06) 6 June 1938
Mandelieu-la-Napoule, France
Full name
Luiz Gastão Maria José Pio Miguel Gabriel Rafael Gonzaga de Orléans e Bragança e Wittelsbach
HouseOrléans-Braganza
FatherPedro Henrique of Orléans-Braganza
MotherPrincess Maria Elisabeth of Bavaria

Luiz actively claims the throne and participates in matters concerning Brazil's imperial past.

Early life

Luiz Gastão Maria José Pio[1] was born on 6 June 1938 in Mandelieu-la-Napoule, France, as the oldest son Prince Pedro Henrique of Orléans-Braganza, the Vassouras great-grandson of Emperor Pedro II of Brazil, and his wife, Princess Maria Elisabeth of Bavaria, granddaughter of King Ludwig III of Bavaria. Through his father, he is a member of the Vassouras branch of the House of Orléans-Braganza, a cadet branch of the House of Braganza and the House of Orléans. Through both of his parents, Luiz is a cousin to many heads of royal families throughout the world, including: Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza; Henri Antoine, Hereditary Prince of Ligne; Archduke Leopold Franz of Austria; and Henri, Count of Paris. Luiz's godparents were Princess Maria di Grazia of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, his paternal grandmother, and Prince Ludwig of Bavaria, his maternal uncle.

Although Prince Luiz was born after revocation of the exile that had been imposed on the Imperial family by Brazil's first Republican government, the aftermath of World War I and World War II detained the entire family in Europe until 1945, when the Vassouras branch of the family was finally repatriated, settling first in the town of Petrópolis (Rio de Janeiro), then to Jacarezinho (Paraná).

In 1957, Luiz returned to Europe to finish his studies, where he graduated in chemistry at the University of Munich.[2] Returning to Brazil in 1967, his family having already moved to Vassouras (Rio de Janeiro), Prince Luiz became a member of the Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property,[3] a traditionalist Catholic organization which opposes socialistic land reform and supports conservative politics based on Catholic social doctrine and the principles promoted by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira. Alongside Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza, his Portuguese counterpart he opposes same-sex marital unions, as of a 2015 declaration.[4]

Succession

On 1981, he succeeded Prince Pedro Henrique as the claimant to the Brazilian throne in the Vassouras branch. According to Brazilian legitimist claims, he is de jure Emperor of Brazil ("Luiz I of Brazil").[5]

He and two of his younger brothers, Prince Bertrand and Prince Antônio, have engaged in monarchist proselytism in Brazil. They played major roles during the campaign for the 1993 plebiscite, which represented the first official opportunity for a return of the monarchy to Brazil since the Proclamation of the Republic in 1889. In it, the people were asked to choose which form of government, presidential or parliamentary, and which form of state organization, republic or constitutional monarchy, Brazil should have. The monarchist cause was not successful, receiving 13.2% of the vote against 66% for the republic.[6]

Currently, Dom Luiz resides in a house with "no luxury nor splendor" in Higienópolis, a borough of São Paulo, Brazil.[7]

Titles and honours
Styles of
Prince Luiz of Orléans-Braganza
Reference styleHis Imperial and Royal Highness
Spoken styleYour Imperial and Royal Highness

Titles
  • 6 June 1938 – 5 July 1981: His Imperial and Royal Highness The Prince Imperial of Brazil[8]
  • 5 July 1981 – present: His Imperial and Royal Highness Prince Luiz of Orléans-Braganza[1][8][9]

Prince Luiz assumed these titles of Brazilian royalty throughout his life. Officially Brazil has not recognized hereditary titles since 1891.

Honours

As Head of the House of Orléans-Braganza, Luiz Gastão holds the following positions:

Luiz has also been decorated with a number of other honours:

Ancestry

References
  1. Casa Imperial do Brasil – Biografia de D. Luiz de Orleans e Bragança Archived 23 May 2017 at the Wayback Machine.
  2. CUNHA, Dionatan da Silveira (2011) (in Portuguese). Príncipe D. Luiz de Orleans e Bragança: 30 Anos de ascensão a Chefia da Casa Imperial do Brasil. Causa Imperial Archived 5 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine.
  3. Prince Bertrand of Orleans-Braganza Visits America. TFP.org Archived 15 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine, 30 April 2001.
  4. "Personalidades que firmaron".
  5. NÉMETH-TORRES, Geovani (2008) (in Portuguese). A odisséia monarquista no Plebiscito Nacional de 1993. In: Veredas da História Archived 1 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Rio de Janeiro: Ano I, n. 1. Abr. 2008. ISSN 1982-4238.
  6. Justiça Eleitoral. Resultado Geral do Plebiscito de 1993.
  7. SOARES, Regiane (2008) (in Portuguese). Príncipe imperial vive "sem luxo nem esplendor" em casa alugada em SP. Folha Online, 4 March 2008.
  8. SANTOS, Armando Alexandre dos. A Legitimidade Monárquica no Brasil. São Paulo: Artpress, 1988, pp. 55–57
  9. O, Estado de São Paulo. "Head of the Imperial House of Brazil defends the return of the monarchy to Brazil out of the crisis". O Estado de São Paulo. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
  10. MARIE, Michelle (2012) (in Portuguese). Cavaleiros na Ordem Eqüestre do Santo Sepulcro de Jerusalém.
Prince Luiz of Orléans-Braganza
Cadet branch of the House of Orléans
Born: 6 June 1938
Brazilian royalty
Preceded by
Pedro Henrique		 Head of the Imperial House of Brazil
(disputed)
5 July 1981 – present		 Incumbent
Heir:
Bertrand
Titles in pretence
Preceded by
Pedro Henrique		 — TITULAR —
Emperor of Brazil
One of two pretenders to the Brazilian throne
5 July 1981 – present
Reason for succession failure:
Empire abolished in 1889		 Incumbent
Heir:
Bertrand
Preceded by
Pia Maria		 Prince Imperial of Brazil
6 June 1938 – 5 July 1981		 Succeeded by
Bertrand

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