Prince Pedro Carlos of Orléans-Braganza

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Prince Pedro Carlos of Orléans-Braganza
DOM PEDRO CARLOS DE ORLEANS E BRAGANÇA CHEFE DA CASA IMPERIAL DO BRASIL.jpg
Pedro Carlos (on the right) receiving the Brazilian Order of Cultural Merit
Head of the Imperial House of Brazil
(disputed)
Tenure27 December 2007 – present
PredecessorPrince Pedro Gastão
Presumptive heirPrince Pedro Thiago
Born (1945-10-31) 31 October 1945 (age 75)
Petrópolis, Brazil
Spouse
Rony Kuhn de Souza
​
​
(m. 1975; died 1979)​

Patricia Alexandra Branscombe
​
​
(m. 1981; died 2009)​
IssuePrince Pedro Thiago
Prince Filipe Rodrigo
Names
Pedro de Alcântara Carlos João Lourenço Miguel Rafael Gabriel Gonzaga de Orléans e Bragança
HouseOrléans-Braganza
FatherPrince Pedro Gastão of Orléans-Braganza
MotherPrincess Maria de la Esperanza of Bourbon-Two Sicilies
OccupationForest engineer

Prince Pedro Carlos of Orléans-Braganza (born 31 October 1945) is a forest engineer and one of two claimants to the defunct Brazilian throne, and head of the Petrópolis branch of the Imperial House of Brazil. The Petrópolis branch claims the throne in opposition to the Vassouras branch of the Orléans-Braganzas, headed by Prince Luiz of Orléans-Braganza. Though both Pedro Carlos and Luiz 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.[1] Pedro Carlos does not actively pursue his claim and is mainly dedicated to defending the historical and cultural heritage of the Brazilian monarchy[2] and managing the Petrópolis real estate company, which he owns.[3]

Life[]

Pedro Carlos was born in Petrópolis, the eldest son of six children of Prince Pedro Gastão of Orléans-Braganza and his wife, Princess Maria de la Esperanza of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. He was baptised with the names Pedro de Alcântara Carlos João Lourenço Miguel Rafael Gabriel Gonzaga, following a House of Braganza tradition inaugurated by the first Emperor of Brazil of being named after the archangels Michael, Raphael and Gabriel and Saint Aloysius Gonzaga. Paternally, Pedro Carlos is a first cousin once removed of Prince Jean, Count of Paris (born 1965), Orléanist pretender to the French throne, and first cousin of Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza (born 1945), pretender to the throne of Portugal and uncle of Peter, Hereditary Prince of Yugoslavia, eldest son of Alexander, Crown Prince of Yugoslavia. On the maternal side, he is also a first cousin of King Juan Carlos I of Spain (born 1938).

Education and career[]

Pedro Carlos graduated at forest engineering by the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro and became a realtor in Seville, Spain..[4] Following his father's death in 2007, he assumed the headship of the Companhia Imobiliária de Petrópolis,[5] a real state in the town of Petrópolis by which he collects the laudemy, a tax on the value of all real estate negotiations made in downtown Petrópolis. This is because the Brazilian justice understands that the territory now corresponding to the center of Petrópolis was the private property of the Brazilian Imperial Family, although this is under question by some politicians.[6][7]

In 2017 Pedro Carlos held an auction on several Imperial Family items, including the golden pen used by his grat-grandmother Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil, to sign the Golden Law which abolished slavery in Brazil, which was bought by the Ministry of Culture to be displayed at the Imperial Museum of Brazil.[8] The last member of royal to reside in a royal palace in the Americas, Pedro Calros moved from the Grão-Pará Palace to a smaller penthouse in Itaipava, and rented the back of the palace for a parking lot.[9]

Dynastic position[]

Pedro Carlos is considered to be a claimant to the Brazilian throne by monarchists who believe the 1908 renunciation to dynastic rights of his paternal grandfather Pedro de Alcântara, Prince of Grão-Pará, was invalid, although a Spanish newspaper has reported that Pedro Carlos subscribes to a republican point of view.[10] Since the death of his father he is genealogically the senior representative of the House of Orleans-Braganza.

Marriages and family[]

Pedro Carlos has been married and widowed twice. Each marriage has resulted in one son.

He married Rony Kuhn de Souza (20 March 1938 – 14 January 1979) on 2 September 1975, at Petrópolis. Together, they had one son:

  • Prince Pedro Thiago of Orléans-Braganza (born 12 January 1979 at Petrópolis) – On 26 May 1992, Pedro Thiago was kidnapped while on his way to school and held for a ransom reported at $5 million.[11] He was freed on 2 June after police raided a house in a Rio de Janeiro suburb.[12] In January 2002, he was indicted on charges relating to the theft and then sale of a set of porcelain dishes from the Palace of the Grão-Pará belonging to his aunt Princess Cristina.[13]

Pedro Carlos's first wife died two days after the birth of their son.

On 16 July 1981, at Fazenda São Geraldo, Pedro Carlos married Patricia Alexandra Branscombe (22 November 1964 – 21 November 2009). The couple had one son:

  • Filipe Rodrigo of Orléans-Braganza (born 31 December 1982).

His second wife died at the Palácio do Grão-Pará in Petrópolis.

Ancestry[]

Three of his great-grandparents (#8, #14, #15) were grandchildren of King Louis Philippe of France, while another three (#9, #12, #13) were grandchildren of King Francesco I of the Two Sicilies.

References[]

  1. ^ "Dom Pedro Gastão queria ser Imperador do Brasil". G1 (website) (in Portuguese). 27 December 2007. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  2. ^ Romero, Cesar (17 September 2020). "Dom Pedro Carlos de Orleans e Bragança e Bourbon (bisneto da princesa Isabel) e a mulher Patrícia". Tribuna de Minas. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  3. ^ "Em Petrópolis, família imperial ainda recebe por imóveis". Diário do Porto (in Portuguese). 16 September 2020. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  4. ^ "A realeza brasileira ao alcance das mãos - Brasil - Estadão". Estadão (in Portuguese). 9 April 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  5. ^ "Morre aos 94 anos Dom Pedro Gastão de Orleans e Bragança". G1 (website) (in Portuguese). 27 December 2007. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  6. ^ Centamori, Vanessa (25 August 2020). "A monarquia acabou no Brasil inteiro menos em Petrópolis, diz economista sobre a taxa do príncipe". Aventuras na História (in Portuguese). Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  7. ^ "Projeto de lei quer acabar com 'taxa do príncipe' em Petrópolis". BBC (in Portuguese). 27 November 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  8. ^ "Museu paga R$ 500 mil por pena usada por princesa para assinar Lei Áurea". Estadão. 8 December 2006. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  9. ^ "Quintal de palacio da familia real vira estacionamento". O Globo (in Portuguese). 17 October 2015. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  10. ^ Bernardo Gutiérrez, "La familia real brasileña defiende los nuevos ideales", Príncipes Republicanos (09/01/2008)
  11. ^ Soca, Ricardo (29 May 1992). "La policía brasileña prepara una "operación de guerra" para rescatar al príncipe Pedro". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 December 2007.
  12. ^ "Police raid hideout near Rio and liberate a teen Prince". Deseret News. 2 June 1992.
  13. ^ Rother, Larry (6 January 2002). "Brazil's Royal Scandal: Prince Is Said to Steal Aunt's Dishes". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 December 2007.
Prince Pedro Carlos of Orléans-Braganza
Cadet branch of the House of Orléans
Born: 31 October 1945
Titles in pretence
Preceded by
Prince Pedro Gastão 		— TITULAR —
Emperor of Brazil
One of two pretenders to the Brazilian throne
27 December 2007 – present
Reason for succession failure:
Empire abolished in 1889 		Incumbent
Heir:
Prince Pedro Thiago
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