Period 5 July 1981 – present Predecessor Pedro Henrique | Father Prince Pedro Henrique Name Prince of | |
Heir presumptive Bertrand, Prince Imperial of Brazil Born 6 June 1938 (age 86)
Mandelieu-la-Napoule, France ( 1938-06-06 ) House House of Orleans-Braganza Mother Princess Maria Elisabeth of Bavaria | ||
Prince Luiz of Orleans-Braganza (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 Prince Pedro Carlos of Orléans-Braganza. Though both Prince Luiz and Prince Pedro Carlos are great-great-grandchildren of Emperor Pedro II of Brazil, of the House of Braganza, they dispute leadership over Brazilian Imperial Family due to a dynastic dispute concerning their fathers, who were cousins.
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Prince Luiz actively claims the throne and participates in matters concerning Brazil's imperial past.
Early life
Luiz Gastão Maria José Pio 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. From his birth, Luiz has held the honorific styling of Dom (Lord) and the styling of His Imperial and Royal Highness and, until the death and succession of his father, he held the title of Prince Imperial of Brazil.
Although Prince Luiz was born after the 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).
On 1957, Luiz returned to Europe to finish his studies, where he graduated on Chemistry at the University of Munich. Back to Brazil on 1967, when his family already moved to Vassouras (Rio de Janeiro), prince Luiz became a member of the Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property, a traditionalist Catholic organization which opposes Socialistic land reform and supports conservative politics based on the 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.
Succession
On 1981, he succeeded prince Pedro Henrique as the claimant to the Brazilian throne by the Vassouras branch. According to the legitimist claims, he is de jure Emperor of Brazil (Luiz I of Brazil).
He and his young brothers, Prince Bertrand and Prince Antônio, are engaged in monarchist proselytism in Brazil. They played main roles during the campaign for the 1993 plebiscite, which represented the hitherto only real opportunity for a return of the monarchy 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.
Nowadays, Dom Luiz resides in a house with "no luxury nor splendor" in Higienópolis, a borough of São Paulo, Brazil.
Titles
Prince Luiz assumed these titles of Brazilian royalty throughout his life. Officially Brazil has not recognized noble 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: