Royal Family of Portugal 2: March 2006-December 2007

[Elsa M.]

http://www.rtp.pt/index.php?article=226484&visual=16

The Dukes of Bragança, D. Duarte Pio and hos wife, Isabel de Herédia, travelled to Israel for the first time, in a peregrination of 60 Portuguese directed by the Priest João Seabra. D. Duarte Pio told Agencia Lusa that he has also taken advantage of the trip to establish personal contacts in Jerusalem, in the scope of his activities as patron of "The Three Faiths Forum", which promotes the friendship and understanding between the great three Abrahamic monotheist religions.

In Jerusalem, D. Duarte visited the Mosque of Al-Aqsa, where he was received by the Mufti of the town, and met the Latin Patriarch, with whom he debated the problems and yearnings of the Christian minority in Israel, as well as the territories of the Palestine Authority.

The duke of Bragança was also received by Rishon Le-Sion, Great-Rabin of Jerusalem, who he had already met in Lisbon, during the centenarian ceremonies of the Synagogue "Shaare Tikva", in 2004.

Accompanied by the president of the League of Friendship Portugal-Israel, D. Duarte also visited the Museum of the Diaspora, in Telavive, which aims to preserve the memory of the Jewish People in the Diaspora, since the conquest of Jerusalem for by Romans, until the Jews’ return ("ascent") to the Holy Land.

D. Duarte expressed his satisfaction for the fact that, despite the Intifadas, the Portuguese peregrinations to the Holy Land were not interrupted and no terrorist attack was perpetrated against the pilgrims. As he himself pointed out, he doesn’t fear to travel alone and on foot to all the places he’s visited.

[Elsa M.]

http://www.cm-sintra.pt/AgendaCultur...&IDMagazine=47

Living in São Pedro de Sintra since 1975, Dom Duarte is worried about the future of village, as far as urbanite planning is concerned, as he fears that it ends up turned into an enormous suburban quarter. The Duke of Bragança appreciates the nature and the beauty of Sintra, and therefore he wishes to help preserving the best qualities of this village. He appeals to a cared planning and the use of the public means of transportation. To relax, he dedicates himself to horticulture.

This is part of the interview given to Sintra Cultural:

- What are the activities that take your time right now?
- Now, I’m dedicating myself to horticulture, here in my little farm, but only for a hobby. On the other hand, I’m directing the Foundation D. Manuel II, where we develop some projects with the Portuguese speaking countries. Besides I am also invited to participate in various cultural events, mostly charitable.

- why don’t you take a more active instance in the Portuguese politics?
- As Head of the Portuguese Royal House, I’m not allowed to get involved in the issues of politic parties. And in Portugal practically no other kind of politic participation exists, beyond the political parties. However, I have had diplomatic activities and contributions with some of the Portuguese speacking countries, as well as with the Arab governments. One of the things that I consider absurd is the fact the President of the Republic – who must be an independent figure - is almost always a leader of a political party. It’s as if the arbitrator of a football game was member of one of the teams. That is one of the great contradictions of the Republic.

[mtbcm]

Duchess of Bragança lent two Christening Gowns from Portuguese Royal Family to an solidarity exhibition present at Museu do Traje, in Lisbon.

This exhibition was organised by a Solidarity Organization "Ajuda de Mãe" and can be visited until the end of the year.

The Christening Gowns lent by Dona Isabel one was used by Dom Duarte and theirs sons Afonso and Dinis, the second one was used by D. Duarte's brother Dom Miguel and was used by their daughter Francisca.

In this exhibition one can see, besides these two, several Christening Gowns being the oldest one from 1748 and the newest from 1959.

(Source: Caras magazine - 18th March 2006)

[Elsa M.]

The next activities of the Duke and Duchess of Bragança:

March 23rd - prize-giving ceremony at the Club Hípico D. Carlos I, in Guincho. The horse riding school of this club has a program destined to the children with mental problems, which is developped by volunteers.

March 29th - visit to TRH the Prince of Liechtenstein, in Vaduz.

March 31st - The Duke and Duchess attend a dinner, according to the invitation of the Lyons Club of Alvalade.

Next May 3rd, the Royal Family attends the traditional Festas das Cruzes, in Barcelos.

[tdarlene]

Anybody knows who are the godfathers os the infantes and which are their titles apart being infantes

[Elsa M.]

Originally Posted by tdarlene

Anybody knows who are the godfathers os the infantes and which are their titles apart being infantes

Dom Afonso, Prince of Beira, Duke of Barcelos and Infante of Portugal, was baptised in Braga, on June 1st 1996. I understand he recieved Princess de Bourbon-Two Sicilies and D. Afonso de Herédia as godparents. ~

Dom Dinis, Duke of Porto and Infante of Portugal, was baptised in Porto, on February 19th 2000.

Dona Maria Francisca is just Infanta of Portugal and she was baptised in Vila Viçosa, on March 3rd 1997.

[Warren]

All of this information is from Point de Vue.

Infante Afonso, baptism 1996
godparents:
Afonso-Miguel de Hérédia, brother of Dona Isabel
Princess Hélèle (Elena) of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, daughter of Prince Casimir & Princess Maria Cristina of Savoy-Aosta

guests included:
Prince Hans Adam of Liechtenstein
Fürst Albert of Thurn und Taxis
Princess Gloria of Thurn und Taxis
Archduke Karl of Austria
Archduchess Regina of Austria
Madame la Comtesse de Paris
Prince Pedro d'Orléans-Bragança
Duke and Duchess of Segorbe

Infanta Maria Francisca, baptism 1997
godparents:
Infant Henrique of Portugal, brother of Dom Duarte
Princess Gundakar of Liechtenstein, neé Princess Marie of France

guests included:
Madame la Comtesse de Paris
Prince Pedro d'Orléans-Bragança

Infante Dinis, baptism 2000
godparents: unknown*

guests included:
Prince Philippe & Princess Mathilde of Belgium
Margrave Max of Baden
The Duchess of Württemberg
Duchess Fleur of Württemberg
Charles of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Calabria, & the Duchess of Calabria
Archduke Joseph of Austria & Archduchess Margarete, neé Hohenberg
Prince Luiz-Gastão d'Orléans-Bragança
Princess Teresa d'Orléans-Bragança
Princess Michel de Ligne, neé Eleonora d'Orléans-Bragança
Prince Kyril of Bulgaria
Madame la Comtesse de Paris
Prince Jean d'Orléans, duc de Vendôme
Prince Eudes d'Orléans, duc d'Angoulême

* The godparents of Infante Dinis are not stated. Does anyone know?

[Warren]

Welcome to the Monarchy of Portugal Part 2.

Part 1 can be found here
I have moved over some posts from Part 1 so that Part 2 begins with some continuity.

[Elsa M.]

Thank you, once again, for taking the time to dig into your fabulous archives and providing us with all this information, Warren! :)

Just in case someone missed it, here are some photos from the baptisms of Afonso, Maria Francisca and Dinis.

[Elsa M.]

This month's edition of Magazine Grande Informação puts on its cover a great interview given by the Duke of Bragança:







Translation (excerpts):

61 years ago, "at the first hours of peace in the Westtern World", D. Duarte Pio de Bragança was born. The head of the Portuguese royal house (and godson of Pope Pious XII and Queen D.ª Amélia) would like to be remembered in History as "The Universalist".

[...]
- Which incomes does the Portuguese royal family live on?
- I inherited some properties from my mother, in Brazil, and I have some apartments in Lisbon, which are rented, but I already had to sell some of them. When I was single, I had a much more economic life. Today, beyond the children, I also have more representation expenses. My wedding was also a great expense, because I invited many friends and personalities from here and abroad, and they all have come.

[...]
- Do you impose any restrictions to your children, as far as TV is concerned?
- During the week, we practically don't watch TV, unless there is a film or a particularly interesting program. In the weekend, they choose a film, to discuss and sometimes we go to the cinema.

- What do your children want to be, when they grow up?
- The most similar to me is perhaps Alfonso; more logical, rational and responsible. He wants to be a biologist and he knows everything about maritime animals, salamanders, snakes and lizards He is a fanatic fisherman, as well. Maria Francisca is very keen on sports, she rides horse pretty well, she skates and swims very well too. She says she wants to be a doctor and, when she wants to face her parents, she even says that she will be an expert in legal medicine... Dinis wants to be a soldier; he has the spirit of the military, he likes to take risks and many times he ressembles an adult, as he has sentences that surprise everybody.

- Do they make any questions? How does one tell a child that someday he may become king?
- When they ask, we explain that the family has a responsibility towards the country. We teach that it is a natural thing. Here at home, we teach them history, since the official teaching programs are parcial... They say, for example, that D. João VI ran away to Brazil; but the truth is that he just moved away, inside the kingdom itself (Brazil was Portuguese at the time); everything was prepared with several months of anticipation, since they took one thousand ships with them, carring the archives, the military school and all the important pictures of the Palace. The capital was literally moved to Brazil!

[...]
- What are the connections betweeen the Portuguese royal family and the other royal families?
- With some of them we have family bows; they are our cousins. We visit them, we spend weekends together with the Granddukes of Luxembourg, the cousins from the Belgian royal family and of Liechtenstein. There are also royal families with whom I do not have family connections, such as the British and the Danish, but with whom I keep friendship relations. I also have visited the emperor of Japan and some Arab princes. In Indonesia - it was quite funny - they even put in my passport "rajá of Portugal", which means "king of Portugal".
[...]

[rchainho]

in this article about Isabel Heredia in a Medecine event, she says that she wants to be again a mother. Portuguese magazine "Flash".

[Danny SR]

I think she spoke very well. It is always a delite to hear what shehas to say.

[Elsa M.]

Originally Posted by rchainho

in this article about Isabel Heredia in a Medecine event, she says that she wants to be again a mother.

That's not what she said!!

That silly yellow magazine asked the Duchess if she would like to have another child and she just gave the only possible answer to such question; that she adores the ideia of repeating the experience, but that she's already handy with three children. Of course, if it happened, the baby would be very welcome, but she doesn't say "I want to be mother again!".
Plus, the duchess even says, since she had three children very close to one another, another pregnancy would possibly cause some health issues...

...So, she says quite the opposite actually!...

[Elsa M.]

http://www.lusa.pt/print.asp?id=SIR-7925263

Last week, the Duque of Bragança travelled to Guinea-Bissau, in the quality of president of the Foundation D. Manuel II.

The duke of Bragança declared in Bissau that he was "very impressed" with the "optimistic, positive and creative spirit" of the leading politics of the country and regreted the "negative image" that Guinea-Bissau still has abroad, remembering that in Europe "we almost only hear about Guinea-Bissau because of problems".

For the candidate to the throne of Portugal, the contacts maintained in the country last week allowed him to come to the conclusion of that the people of Guinea are in the good way to find "good solutions" for the future, being less dependent on the international aid.

As president of the Foundation D. Manuel II, D. Duarte pointed out the creation of conditions for an expansion in the sector of Tourism. The main aims of this trip however was to look for investments on biological agriculture, in order that Guinea-Bissau may implement new projects with international certification for products without chemistries: "Guinea-Bissau has a very good caju, which does not need chemical treatments. Such circumstance will allow a valuation of 20 to 30% of the products in the international markets, leading to a quality exportation", he supported.

The markets of Europe and the United States would be the main destinations, said D. Duarte, who gave another example with the rice (the feeding base of this population), which is produced in the south of Guinea-Bissau by the balantas (one of the most important ethnic groups of the country).

During his trip to Guiné-Bissau, the Duke of Bragança visited some institutions of social nature, such as the Hospital Simão Mendes, in Bissau, and paid a two-days visit to Bolama (in the south), where he heard about the investments that are being made in the region, having mantained official contacts with the local institutions of wellfare.

[Elsa M.]

From Jornal de Leiria:

The Foundation D.Manuel II intends to develop mechanisms for certification of products of biological agriculture in this Portuguese Speaking Country.

D. Duarte reinforced that he travelled to Guinea-Bisau in order to analyze with the local authorities the possibility of a cooperation between the foundation D. Manuel II and the government, so to establish mechanisms for certification of some biological products, such as the rice and some fruits. According to the Duke of Bragança, Guinea-Bissau could value 30% of the prices of its products of a biological agriculture certificate.

D. Duarte wants equally to study the possibilities of producing juice from some of the fruits, reason why he visited the island of Bolama, in the archipelago of Bijagós, to visit a project to transform chestnut of caju.

Before leaving for Bolama, in a canoe of AMI (International Medical Assistance), D. Duarte also visited the biggest hospital of Guinea- Bissau, the Simão Mendes, accompanied by its directors. The duke visited the intensive care services of the maternity, pediatrics and urgency, and praised what he saw: "I've been here six or seven years ago and the hospital is noe much better, it's cleaner and it has better equipments. I'm very well impressed. I hope I can contribute with some more support; I don't know yet which it will be, but I'll try". For D. Duarte "it would be more efficient, if the country got the medical equipment, for the combat to some illnesses, for example machines of hemodialises, instead of ordering the sick people for treatment abroad."

[Danny SR]

i have been tryin to find pictures of D. Manuel II, his parents brother, grandparents and so on, i enjoy very much searching and creating photoshop work with them. i have been looking for pictures of the enthroment ceremony of D. Manuel II and all i found was a picture taken of him in full ceremonial robes standing next to a table with the crown on it. i was woundering if anyone knows of websites that have pictures of the portuguese royals? thanx in advanced.