Princess Michael of Kent in Brazil
It took me so long to write this that Dierna32 arrived first" ;-)
Princess Michael of Kent is in Brazil to release the first edition in "Brazilian Portuguese” of her 1986 book "Crowned in a Far Country: Portraits of eight royal brides".
The book
Amazon.com: Crowned in a Far Country: Portraits of Eight Royal Brides (9780743296373): Princess Michael of Kent: Books - English Edition
Coroadas em Terras Distantes –Brazilian Edition
Coroadas em Terras Distantes
The book is about eight European princesses who married foreign rulers over the past 300 years.
The Brazilian edition has as its cover a watercolour by Jean-Baptiste Debret called “Débarquement de la princesse Léopoldine à Rio de Janeiro”.
Coroadas em Terras Distantes
One of the eight brides in the book is Maria Leopoldine von Österreich, archduchess of Austria, that in 1817 sailed to Brazil to marry the crown prince of Portugal (Príncipe Real do Reino Unido de Portugal, Brasil e Algarves), Dom Pedro de Alcântara . Later she became Empress consort of Brazil and, for two months, simultaneously queen consort of Portugal. She was a daughter of Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, and his second wife, Maria Teresa of the Two Sicilies and sister of, among others, Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria and Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma, Napoleon Bonaparte's wife.
The other 7 royal brides are Marie Antoinette, Maria Carolina of Austria, Eugenie of France, Victoria of Germany, Catharine of Russia and Maria Feodorovna.
Schedule
Princess Michael of Kent has arrived in São Paulo on Sunday (April 8th) and her hotel here is the Fasano
Fasano - Hotels.
As her first appointment, she layed some flowers in the Ipiranga Mausoleum, where Empress Leopoldina, her husband D. Pedro I (IV in Portugal) and his second wife, Empress Amelie rest. The mausoleum is in front of Museu do Ipiranga, the very place where D. Pedro I declared the Independence of Brazil from Portugal. She was accompanied by Dom Gabriel de Orleans e Bragança, nephew of Dom Luís Gastão de Orléans e Bragança, considered the Emperor de jure in Brazil by his supporters.
Ipiranga Museum:
.:: O Museu ::.
Mausoleum outside (the flickr pictures are not mine but were the best I could find):
FOTOS DO JUNIOR 007 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
FOTOS DO JUNIOR 007 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
MAUSOLEU INPERIAL - MUSEU DO IPIRANGA | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Mausoleum inside:
Mausoléu Imperial | Outras Atrações | SP360° | A maior viagem virtual pela cidade
A small video of Princess Michael there:
YouTube - Princesa Michael de Kent Marie Christine - BCTV.mpg
Last night (09) she was on TV in a show called “Programa do Jô “ (a look alike David Letterman”s). You can see the interview here (part one
YouTube - Jô Soares entrevista Princesa Michael de Kent 09/05/2011 (Parte 1 de 2) and part two
YouTube - Jô Soares entrevista Princesa Michael de Kent 09/05/2011 (Parte 2 de 2)). It is in English.
I myself think she was very charming and intelligent. Of course Jô Soares pampered her a lot.
Tonight (10) she will autograph her book at no Museu da Casa Brasileira (
Museu da Casa Brasileira) at 8:30 PM
Tomorrow, (11) she will be in Rio de Janeiro. There will be a diner at Casa Julieta de Serpa (
Casa de Arte e Cultura Julieta de Serpa) in her honor and she will autograph her book at Iate Club do Rio de Janeiro on April 12 (see the invitation here
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6jIvqhNT2...xZjM4/s1600/convite_Rio_de_Janeiro-745573.jpg). Her editors wanted the venue to take place at Palácio de São Clemente (
Veja Rio on-line) – when Rio was the capital of Brazil, the Portuguese Embassy was there, now it is the Portuguese General Consulate. The Portuguese did not allow it to be the venue and gossipers say that it is all because Empress Leopoldina was very much in favor of Brazil to be independent from Portugal and was actually acting as Empress Regent when D Pedro I was travelling to São Paulo and declared the independency.
On May 13 she will go to Petropolis where she will participate in a lot of events at the Museu Imperial do Brasil (
Uma princesa europeia no Museu Imperial). The Museu was once the summer palace of the Imperial Family. This day is very important to Brazil because 123 years before Princess Isabel of Brazil abolished slavery.
If I hear something else interesting about Princess Michael of Kent’s trip, I will post again.
I didn't even know she knew who she was!
I know that you do have inside knowledge and please don't deny that, so I was wondering whether you could tell us a few things about MC's relationship with the late Diana. Were they really at daggers drawn?? The nature of their relationship has always confused me, as they also used to be neighbours in Kensighton Palace. Any info will be highly appreciated and thank you in advance!!! 
Let us say their relationship was way different from the relationship between Diana and Sarah, who were best friends of course! Marie-Christine is older, different type of humour and she comes from another world. And what stories do you want to hear now? How they used opera glasses to spy on each other back then at KP? The story about the eggs or the one about the cats? When Diana once did goose step in front of her?
