The story of the royal house of Brazil, which has just lost the one who could have been the emperor of the country

This weekend Luis Gastón de Orleans and Braganza, head of the Imperial House of Brazil, died at the age of 84 at the Santa Catalina hospital in São Paulo, who, had there been a monarchy in this country, would have held the title of constitutional emperor and defender perpetual of Brazil.

He was the first-born of the 12 children of Prince Pedro Enrique of Orleans and Braganza, who was head of the Brazilian imperial house from 1921 to 1981, and Princess Maria of Bavaria, granddaughter of Louis III, the last King of Bavaria.

Direct descendant of the emperors of Brazil, Pedro I and II, he was also a descendant of the Portuguese monarchs of the house of Braganza, and of the kings of France, since his grandmother María Pía, who was his godmother at baptism, was also a princess of the Sicilies.

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Delicate health, because he had polio as a child, although his death was a consequence of the Alzheimer he suffered from, he was born on June 6, 1938 in exile in France, in the town of Mandelieu-la-Napoule, he graduated in chemical sciences in Munich and later in Paris he dedicated himself to perfecting languages ​​since he spoke Portuguese, French, German and English and had notions of Spanish and Italian.

In 1945, after the end of World War II, the imperial family traveled to Brazil for the first time, establishing Luis with his parents in Rio de Janeiro and then in Paraná.

A FAILED ATTEMPT

Brazil was a monarchy until 1889, when the Portuguese house of Braganza, who arrived from Portugal after the invasion of that country by Napoleon’s troops, reigned there. In 1888, Emperor Pedro II abolished slavery, causing the large landowners to confront the monarchy, which fell the following year and never returned to Brazil.

There was an attempt in 1993, the year in which a referendum called “constitutional plebiscite” was held, but the date was brought forward by surprise, so the monarchist option failed as they could not prepare their campaign, and the Republicans won by 66% of the votes.

INTERNAL STRUGGLES

This defeat was also influenced by the dynastic struggle between the two branches of this family, the Vassouras, to which Don Luis belonged, and the Petrópolis branch, who descended from the first son of the regent Isabel, Pedro Alcántara of Orleans and Braganza, who gave up his rights by contracting an unequal marriage with Countess Elizabeth Dobrzensky.

Their son, Pedro Gastón, the other candidate for emperor of Brazil, was married to the infanta Esperanza, aunt of King Juan Carlos, and they lived halfway between the Brazilian city of Petrópolis and the Seville palace of Villamanrique.

Don Luis became head of the imperial house in 1981 after the death of his father and spent part of his time managing his legacy, making frequent tours of the cities of Brazil, where he was received with honors, since he was also a member of numerous cultural institutions. and historical, apart from having several decorations, among them the great cross of the Constantinian order of Saint George.

He was single and had no children, so now his brother Bertrand, the third of the boys, will inherit the rights to the throne, since the second, Eudes, renounced his rights to marry a commoner. Since Bertrand is also single, the one called to succeed him when he dies will also be his little brother, Antonio.