Yesterday evening, on 16 October 2009 in Rio de Janeiro, the wedding was celebrated between Count Alexander zu Stolberg-Stolberg and HRH Princess Isabel d’Orleans-Bragança.

The wedding took place at 7.30pm in the Imperial Irmandade de Nossa Senhora da Gloria do Outeiro, a church in Rio where several royal weddings of the members of the Brazilian Imperial Family took place, included the one of the parents of the bride, thirty-four years ago. A reception followed the ceremony in the Imperial Palace of Rio.

Courtesy of anp-photo.com

The list of the guests is quite impressive, since a lot of European and Brazilian royals and aristocrats were expected to attend the wedding; among them, several uncles and aunts of the bride: HIH Prince Dom Luiz d’Orleans-Bragança, Head of the Imperial Family, Prince Dom Antonio and Princess Dona Cristina d’Orleans-Bragança, Prince Michel and Princess Eleonore de Ligne; Prince Dom Duarte Pio and Princess Dona Isabel of Portugal, Duke and Duchess of Bragança; Prince Jean d’Orleans, Duke of Vendome; Prince Luitpold of Bavaria; Prince Jaime of Bourbon-Parma, Count of Bardi, and his sister Princess Maria Carolina, Marchioness of Sala; Fürst Jost-Christian zu Stolberg-Stolberg and other members of his family; members of the most prominent Belgian noble families, like Merode and Arenberg.

The groom, Count Alexander zu Stolberg-Stolberg, is the oldest of the five children of Count Franz and Countess Jacqueline, née Florin de Duikinberg; he was born in Frankfurt in 1974. Now he lives in Bruxelles, where he works in the financial field.

The bride, Princess Isabel d’Orleans-Bragança, is the 31-years-old eldest daughter of Prince Dom Fernando d’Orleans-Bragança and his wife Princess Maria de Graça, née Baere de Araújo; due to the morganatic marriage of her parents and the renounce of her father to his rights to the Brazilian throne, Isabel is not considered as a dynast into the Brazilian Imperial Family.

Now, the newlyweds will live in Bruxelles, where Alexander already lives and works.

To know more about this wedding, please read this thread.

MAfan Brazilian Royals, German Royals Count Alexander, Orléans-Bragança, Princess Isabel, Stolberg-Stolberg, Wedding

 Tomorrow is the 100th anniversary of the birth of HIH Prince Dom Pedro Henrique d’Orleans-Bragança, the late Head of the Brazilian Imperial Family and titular Emperor of Brazil between 1921 and 1981.

Click to see at geneall.net

An Holy Mass in memoriam will be celebrated in the Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Monte do Carmo da antiga Sé (the Old Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro) at 11. The Holy Mass is part of the “XX Encontro Monárquico” (XX Monarchic Meeting), that takes place in the Hotel Novo Mundo in Rio this weekend (12 and 13 September). The meeting is organized by the “Pró Monarquia” (For Monarchy) and the “Associação dos Amigos da Família Imperial” (Association of the Friends of the Imperial Family)

The Prince was born on 13 September 1909 in Boulogne-sur-Seine, near Paris, France, where his family was living in exile; he was the eldest son of Prince Dom Luis d’Orleans-Bragança, Prince Imperial of Brazil (1878-1920) and his wife Dona Maria Pia, born Princess of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1878-1973). His paternal grandparents were Prince Gaston d’Orleans, Count of Eu and Prince Imperial Consort of Brazil and Princess Dona Isabel de Bragança, Princess Imperial of Brazil, daughter and heir of the last Brazilian Emperor Pedro II; his maternal grandparents were Prince Alfonso of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Count of Caserta and Claimant to the Two Sicilian Throne, and his wife and first cousin Princess Maria Antonietta. Read more…

MAfan Brazilian Royals Anniversary, Biography, Birthday, Prince Dom Pedro Henrique

Today is the 95^th birthday of Her Imperial Highness Princess Dona Maria d’Orleans-Bragança, the widow of Prince Dom Pedro Henrique d’Orleans-Bragança, Head of the Brazilian Imperial Family and Pretender to the Brazilian Throne between 1921 and 1981.

Dona Maria and Dom Luiz - click to see at monarquia.com

She was born in Nymphenburg Castle, in Munich, Bavaria, on 9th September 1914, the second of the six child and first daughter of Prince Franz of Bavaria and his wife Princess Isabella, born Princess of Croy.

Her father was the third son of King Ludwig III of Bavaria and his wife Queen Maria Theresia, born Archduchess of Austria-Este and Heir to the Jacobite claims to the British Throne, while her mother was a daughter of Karl Alfred, Duke of Croÿ, and his wife Ludmilla, born Princess of Arenberg. Among her siblings are the late Prince Ludwig of Bavaria, Prince Rasso of Bavaria, Archduchess Dorothea of Austria, the widow of Archduke Gottfried, titular Grand-Duke of Tuscany.

Princess Maria married in the chapel of Nymphenburg Castle in 1937 HIH Dom Pedro Henrique, titular Emperor of Brazil, who was 5 years older then her. They had 12 children, eight sons and four daughters: among them are Prince Dom Luiz, the present Head of the Imperial Family and claimants to the Imperial Throne, Prince Dom Antonio (husband of Princess Christina, daughter of Prince Antoine de Ligne, and future Head of the Family), Princess Eleonore, now Princess de Ligne. Dom Pedro Henrique died in 1981.

Dona Maria and Dom Pedro Henrique lived for some years after their wedding in France, and after the end of the Second World War they moved in Brazil, where the Princess still lives near Rio, in a house together with her daughter Dona Isabel. Like her late husband, the Princess is a painter, and in particular she is a specialist in porcelain painting, following a tradition of her homeland Bavaria.

Since the death of her sister Eleonore less then a month ago, the Princess is last surviving member of the Bavarian Royal Family to be born before the fall of the Monarchy in 1918, and is also the eldest member of both the Imperial Family of Brazil and of the Royal Family of Bavaria.

More infos can be found in this thread.

MAfan Brazilian Royals Birthday, Dona Maria d'Orleans-Bragança

Click on image to see photo at rpc.com.br

 Members of the imperial family of Brazil attended a mass in Rio de Janeiro in the memory of those who lost their lives in the Air Flace plane last week. One of the passengers was prince Pedro Luís of Orleans-Bragança. His parents, prince Antonio, princess Christine and his siblings prince Rafael, princess Amélia and princess Gabriela were seated on the first row in the church of Nossa Senhora do Carmo da Antiga Sé  in Rio de Janeiro. Behind them were other members of the imperial family like prince Alberto, princess Isabel and princess Teresa with her husband Jan Hessel de Jong. The mass was led by the archbisshop of Rio de Janeiro and prince Antonio was one of those who spoke during the service.

On June 8th the official memorial mass will be held in São Paulo and on June 10th a service will be held in Rio de Janeiro. On both occassions members of the Imperial family will be in attendance. The head of the Vassouras branch, prince Luíz Gastão, will attend the service in São Paulo, as is said on the website of the Brazilian imperial family.

This weekend there was also a mass in Belgium, in the memory of prince Pedro Luís. The mass was held at Belouil, the caste of the de Ligne family, as the mother of prince Pedro Luís is a princess de Ligne. The mass was attended by various members of the de Ligne family and other relatives like prince Amedeo and princess Maria-Laura of Belgium.

Marengo Brazilian Royals Mass, Memorial, Prince Pedro Luís

 Relatives confirmed that prince Pedro Luíz of Orleans-Bragança (26), descendant of the last emperor of Brazil, is a passenger on the Airbus of Air France that disappeared above the Atlantic Ocean today. The Airbus was on its way from Rio de Janeiro to Paris when it disappeared from the radar. On board were 228 people, among them prince Pedro Luíz.

Prince Pedro Luíz is the son of prince Antonio of Orleans-Bragança and princess Christine de Ligne. The prince is the 3rd in line of succession of the Vassouras branch of the Brazilian Imperial family. His maternal grandmother, princess Alix Marie de Ligne, is the youngest sister of Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg. The prince works as a banker in Luxembourg and was in Brazil to visit family and friends.

More information can be found in this thread.

Marengo Brazilian Royals Prince Pedro Luís

    Princess Michael of Kent was recently in Portugal, in order to promote her latest book, “The Serpent and The Moon.”

Click on image to see photo at 1.bp.blogspot.com

 The book was presented on March 3rd at the beautiful Palace of Fronteira, in Lisbon, and is now being published in Portugal by Civilização. It is a novel about the most famous love triangle in the French Court of the Renaissance, that of Henri II, Catherine de Medici and Diane de Poitiers, from whom the author descends.

For the event, Dom Fernando de Mascarenhas (Marquis of Fronteira) received in his Palace several members of the Portuguese nobility and royalty, namely Dona Isabel (Duchess of Bragança), Princess Diana and Prince Charles-Philippe d’Orléans, Duchess Claudine de Cadaval and Prince Pedro Luís de Orleães e Bragança.

On the following day (Wednesday 4th), Princess Michael headed to the historic town of Viseu, at the invitation of the local Royal Association. Among the personalities who attended this event were Dom Duarte Pio (Duke of Bragança), who described the author as a “smart and cheerful” person who “has been developing a very interesting historical research work.” 

Click on image to see photo at 1.bp.blogspot.com

Elsa M. Brazilian Royals, British Royals, French Royals, Portuguese Royals Duchess of Bragança, Duchess of Cadaval, Duke of Bragança, Prince Charles-Philippe, Prince Pedro Luís, Princess Michael of Kent

 On 30 January the Brazilian princess Maria Pia of Orléans-Bragança and her husband Rodrigo Broglia Mendes became parents of a boy, who they named Pedro. The child was born in São Paulo. The couple married in 2001 and in 2004 their first child Antonio was born. Princess Maria Pia is a descendant of Brazil’s last emperor Pedro II.

Princess Maria Pia is the eldest of the five children of prince Pedro de Alcântara of Orléans-Bragança and his wife Maria de Fátima Lacerda Rocha. Due to his marriage her father renounced his succession rights to the Brazilian throne. At the moment Maria Pia’s uncle Luíz Gastão is the head of the Vassouras branch of the Imperial family, though another branch of the family is contesting his claim.

The official website of the Brazilian imperial family is here.

You can find more information about the Brazilian imperial family in this thread.

Marengo Brazilian Royals Birth, Princess Maria Pia