Friday Prince Blogging

Today we head to the western end of the Iberian Peninsula and Portugal. Yes, today's feature is His Royal Highness Duarte Pio João Miguel Gabriel Rafael de Bragança, the Duke of Braganza and claimant to the throne of Portugal.

From Burke's Peerage:

Dom Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza was born on the 15th of May 1945. He is the 24th Duke of Braganza and the Successor to the Crown of Portugal. He is the son of Dom Duarte Nuno of Braganza and Dona Maria Francisca de Orleans e Braganza, Princess of Brazil.

The Duke of Braganza’s godparents were His Holiness Pope Pius XII and Her Majesty, Queen Amelia of Portugal, the wife of His Majesty King Carlos I of Portugal, assassinated by the republicans on the 1st of February 1908 and the mother of Dom Manuel II, the last reigning King of Portugal.

Titles and Official Styles.

His Royal Highness, the Most Serene Lord, Duke of Braganza, of Guimarães and of Barcelos, Marquess of Vila Viçosa, Count of Arraiolos, of Ourém, of Barcelos, of Faria, of Neiva and of Guimarães, Sovereign of the Royal Order of Saint Isabel, Grand Master of the Order of Our Lady of Conception of Vila Viçosa and Grand Master by Birth of the Order of Saint Michael of the Wing and Judge of the Royal Brotherhood of Saint Michael of the Wing.

Succession to the Crown of Portugal.

On December 24, 1976 Dom Duarte's father, Dom Duarte Nuno died. Dom Duarte Pio succeeded as claimant to the Portuguese throne, thus becoming the 24th Duke of Braganza.

Dom Duarte Pio is the closest male-line relative to Dom Manuel II, the last King of Portugal. There are closer female-line relatives (who according to the Constitutional Charter of 1826 have succession rights), but none of these has Portuguese Nationality (which was required by the Constitutional Charter for succession to the Throne); none of these female-line relatives makes any active claim to the throne.

He was born in the Portuguese embassy in Berne, Switzerland, thereby making him a Portuguese national and eligible for succession.

From Wikipedia:

On May 13, 1995, Duarte married Isabel de Herédia, a Portuguese businesswoman. This was the first marriage of a member of the Portuguese royal family to take place in Portugal since the marriage of King Luís I in 1862 and the first to a member of native aristocracy since the marriage of King Fernando I of Portugal in 1371. The ceremony was celebrated in the Monastery of Jerónimos in Lisbon and presided over by Cardinal António Ribeiro, Patriarch of Lisbon. It was attended by the principal Portuguese political figures, including the President of the Republic Mário Soares, the President of the Assembly of the Republic, and the Prime Minister Aníbal Cavaco Silva. Also present were representatives of most European royal houses.

Duarte and Isabel have three children:
HRH Infante Afonso, Prince of Beira, Duke of Barcelos (born March 25, 1996)
HRH Infanta Maria Francisca (born March 3, 1997)
HRH Infante Dinis, Duke of Porto (born November 25, 1999)

His Royal Highness Dom Duarte III Pio, Duke of Braganza, Head of the Royal House of Portugal, with his wife, son and daughter in the drawing room of their house near Sintra. (source)


If you understand Portuguese, here is a video of an interview with the Duke and Duchess.


--the BB