Line of succession to the Portuguese throne as of 1910
On 5th October 1910 the Portuguese monarchy was abolished when king Manuel II was deposed following a republican revolution. At that time, the line of succession, uncontested heirs of king Manuel II:
- infante dom Afonso, Duke of Oporto, king Manuel's uncle (Afonso Henrique Maria Luís Pedro de Alcántara Carlos Humberto Amadeu Fernando António Miguel Rafael Gabriel Gonzaga Xavier Francisco de Assis João Augusto Júlio Volfando Inácio de Braganca e Saboya), born Ajuda 1 July 1865, unmarried
- infanta dona Antonia, Dowager Princess of Hohenzollern, king Manuel's great-aunt (Antónia Maria Fernanda Micaela Gabriela Rafaela Francisca de Assis Ana Gonzaga Silvina Júlia Augusta de Sajonia-Coburgo e Braganca), born Lisbon 17 February 1845, youngest surviving daughter of her late majesty, Maria II, queen regnant of Portugal and Algarves, etc, and her second husband dom Fernando II. Infanta dona Antonia had in 1861 married Leopold of Hohenzollern and had become widow in 1905. There is so far no evidence that infanta Antonia had ever renounced her rights of Portuguese succession. Particularly because her husband in 1861 or later was not reigning monarch of any other monarchy, sovereign or otherwise. Infanta Antonia's rights to the Portuguese succession were uncontested, but her children's rights have been contested on basis of them being foreigners; she was grandmother of princess Augusta Victoria, who afterwards, in 1913, married her second cousin the deposed king Manuel.
The line after infanta Antonia was rather murky. Queen Maria II's father Pedro has been alleged to have renounced on behalf of his all other children than Maria, and much has been polemized whether he actually was entitled to do so, if he ever actually so did. Portuguese constitution of 1838 (which however had been replaced by reviving the 1826 Constitutional Charter), as well as decrees and treaties in 1834, had specifically excluded all rights of Pedro's younger brother, infante dom Miguel of Portugal, meaning that no one could be in line of succession on basis of descent from him. Relatively uncontested is that the issue from Pedro's eldest sister, infanta dona Teresa, Princess of Beira, were in line of succession (but several individuals from dom Pedro's lineage may have predeced them):
- infante dom Francisco Maria Isabel Gabriel Pedro de Alcantara Sebastiao Afonso, 1st Duke of Marchena, Infante of Spain and Portugal, born Madrid 20 August 1861, was the eldest grandson of Princess Teresa. His position of Portuguese infante derived from the specific grant made by Maria I, queen regnant of Portugal, Brazil and Algarves. He had children and several brothers, all infantes and infantas of Portugal.
After all eligible issue of elder children of king John VI of Portugal, persons uncontestedly in line of Portuguese succession existed among issue of John VI's youngest daughter, infanta Ana of Portugal, who had married the Duke of Loulé. Infanta Ana's senior representative in 1910 was her granddaughter:
- dona Maria Domingas José de Mendoça Rolim de Moura Barreto, 3rd Duchess of Loulé (born 1853)
Rules of succession
The 1822, 1826 and 1838 constitutions, as well as the 1842 revival of the 1826 constitutional charter, confirmed a feudal, cognatic primogeniture among issue of the then-reigning monarch and in case of its extinction, among collateral descendants of the Braganza dynasty. ("A sucessão da Coroa segue a ordem regular de primogenitura, e representação entre os legítimos descendentes; preferindo sempre a linha anterior às posteriores; na mesma linha, o grau mais próximo ao mais remoto; no mesmo grau, o sexo masculino ao feminino; e no mesmo sexo, a pessoa mais velha à mais nova.") That had been the succession also in earlier customs in Portugal.
After the 1640 revolt against Spain and the accession of the Braganza dynasty, the relevant customary law in Portugal (which is regarded as part of fundamental law of the Portuguese monarchy) excluded kings of other countries from Portuguese succession. However, the customary law did not exclude persons born outside Portugal, nor persons holding positions in other countries (as attested by the fact that during the reign of king Pedro II of Portugal, his second cousin's son dom Manuel Joaquim Garcia de Braganca, Marquess of Flexilla and Xarandilla (1642-1707), who happened to be Prime Minister of the neighboring Spain, was recognized as the First Prince of the Blood in Portugal, and heir to the Portuguese throne after the (then precarious) issue of king Pedro.
The desire to avoid union with a more dominant country was displayed in some constitutional stipulations, such as article 100 of the 1838 constitution ("Nenhum Estrangeiro pode suceder na Coroa de Portugal").
The 1838 constitution was in 1842 replaced by reviving the 1826 Constitutional Charter of Portugal. (Among other things, the 1826 charter stipulated: "Extintas as linhas dos Descendentes legítimos da SENHORA DONA MARIA II, passará a Coroa à colateral".)
Since the exile of the royal family, there have been disputes over who are foreigners and who are not.
Portuguese customary law, as well as all the written constitutions, required legitimate birth as prerequisite to be eligible as heir.
The treaty of 1834, decisions ratified by the Cortes and the monarch, and the 1838 constitution ("Constituição portuguesa de 1838") specifically excluded from succession infante dom Miguel and all rights derived through him.