Pedro Carlos of Orléans-Braganza
Pedro Carlos of Orleans-Braganza (Petrópolis, 31 October 1945) is head of the Petrópolis branch of the House of Orléans-Braganza and a claimant to the defunct Brazilian throne. He is the older son of Prince Pedro Gastão of Orléans-Braganza and Princess Maria de la Esperanza of Bourbon-Two Sicilies and great-grandson of Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil, through her firstborn son Pedro de Alcântara, Prince of Grão-Pará. The Petrópolis branch claims The Throne in opposition to the Vassouras branch of the Orléans-Braganzas, headed by his cousin Bertrand of Orléans-Braganza, over a dispute concerning their grandfathers.
A retired forest engineer, Pedro Carlos does not actively pursue his claim to the defunct throne and is mainly dedicated to defending the historical and cultural heritage of the Brazilian monarchy and managing the Petrópolis Real Estate Company, which he owns alongside his siblings.
Biography
Early life
Pedro Carlos was born in Petrópolis, the eldest son of six children of Prince Pedro Gastão of Orléans-Braganza and his wife, Princess Maria de la Esperanza of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. He was baptised with the names Pedro de Alcântara Carlos João Lourenço Miguel Rafael Gabriel Gonzaga, following a House of Braganza tradition inaugurated by the first Emperor of Brazil of being named after the archangels Michael, Raphael and Gabriel and Saint Aloysius Gonzaga. Upon his birth, he was the first member of the Brazilian imperial family to be born in Brazil since the deposition and exile of the family in 1889 (and since the birth of his great-uncle Prince Luis of Orléans-Braganza, in 1878).
Pedro Carlos is a great-grandson of Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil, the last living member of the Brazilian imperial family to have ruled the country. His grandfather, Pedro de Alcântara, Prince of Grão-Pará, Isabel's firstborn son, supposedly renounced his dynastic rights years in 1908 in order to marry a Bohemian countess. Paternally, Pedro Carlos is a first cousin once removed of Jean, Count of Paris (born 1965), Orléanist pretender to the French throne, first cousin of Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza (born 1945), pretender to the throne of Portugal and uncle of Philip, Hereditary Prince of Yugoslavia, the second son and heir of Alexander, Crown Prince of Yugoslavia and Pedro's sister Princess Maria da Glória, Duchess of Segorbe. On the maternal side, he is also a first cousin of King Juan Carlos I of Spain (born 1938).
Education and career
Pedro Carlos graduated at forest engineering by the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro and became a realtor in Seville, Spain, where his mother owned the Palace of Villamanrique-de-la-Condessa which she inherited from her father, an Infante of Spain. a real state in the town of Petrópolis through which he collects the laudemy, a 2.5% tax on the value of all real estate negotiations made in downtown Petrópolis. This is because the Brazilian justice understands that the territory now corresponding to the center of Petrópolis have been a private property of the Brazilian imperial family, although this is under question by some politicians.
In 2017 Pedro Carlos held an auction on several Imperial Family items, including the golden pen used by his great-grandmother to sign the Golden Law which abolished slavery in Brazil, which was bought by the Ministry of Culture to be displayed at the Imperial Museum of Brazil. A resident of the Palace of Grão-Pará until 2015, Pedro Calros moved from the to a smaller penthouse in Itaipava, and rented the back of the palace for a parking lot.
Dynastic position
Pedro Carlos is considered to be a pretender to the Brazilian throne by the monarchists who believe the 1908 renunciation to dynastic rights of his paternal grandfather Pedro de Alcântara, Prince of Grão-Pará, was illegal and invalid. Nonetheless, a Spanish newspaper has reported that Pedro Carlos subscribes to a republican point of view. Since the death of his father, he is genealogically the senior representative of the House of Orléans-Braganza.
In 2022 his eldest son, Pedro Thiago, asserted a claim to the headship of the Imperial House of Brazil, believing his father ineligible to head the imperial house since he supposedly declared himself a republican.
Marriages and family
Pedro Carlos has been married three times and widowed twice. His first two marriages resulted in one son from each.
He married Rony Kuhn de Souza (20 March 1938 - 14 January 1979) on 2 September 1975, at Petrópolis. Together, they had one son:
*Pedro Thiago of Orléans-Braganza (born 12 January 1979 at Petrópolis) - On 26 May 1992, Pedro Thiago was kidnapped while on his way to school and held for a ransom reported at $5 million. He was freed on 2 June after police raided a house in a Rio de Janeiro suburb. In January 2002, he was indicted on charges relating to the theft and then sale of a set of porcelain dishes from the Palace of Grão-Pará belonging to his aunt Princess Cristina.
Pedro Carlos's first wife died two days after the birth of their son.
* 50px Grand Master and Sovereign of the Imperial Order of Christ
* 50px Grand Master and Sovereign of the Imperial Order of Saint Benedict of Aviz
* 50px Grand Master and Sovereign of the Imperial Order of Saint James of the Sword
* 50px Grand Master and Sovereign of the Imperial Order of the Southern Cross
* 50px Grand Master and Sovereign of the Imperial Order of Emperor Pedro I
* 50px Grand Master and Sovereign of the Imperial Order of the Rose
Prince Pedro Carlos has also been decorated with a number of other honours:
* 50px Bailiff Grand Cross of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George<ref name=ark/>
*50px Commander of the Order of Cultural Merit
Ancestry
Three of his great-grandparents (#8, #14, #15) were grandchildren of King Louis Philippe of France, while another three (#9, #12, #13) were grandchildren of King Francesco I of the Two Sicilies.
A retired forest engineer, Pedro Carlos does not actively pursue his claim to the defunct throne and is mainly dedicated to defending the historical and cultural heritage of the Brazilian monarchy and managing the Petrópolis Real Estate Company, which he owns alongside his siblings.
Biography
Early life
Pedro Carlos was born in Petrópolis, the eldest son of six children of Prince Pedro Gastão of Orléans-Braganza and his wife, Princess Maria de la Esperanza of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. He was baptised with the names Pedro de Alcântara Carlos João Lourenço Miguel Rafael Gabriel Gonzaga, following a House of Braganza tradition inaugurated by the first Emperor of Brazil of being named after the archangels Michael, Raphael and Gabriel and Saint Aloysius Gonzaga. Upon his birth, he was the first member of the Brazilian imperial family to be born in Brazil since the deposition and exile of the family in 1889 (and since the birth of his great-uncle Prince Luis of Orléans-Braganza, in 1878).
Pedro Carlos is a great-grandson of Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil, the last living member of the Brazilian imperial family to have ruled the country. His grandfather, Pedro de Alcântara, Prince of Grão-Pará, Isabel's firstborn son, supposedly renounced his dynastic rights years in 1908 in order to marry a Bohemian countess. Paternally, Pedro Carlos is a first cousin once removed of Jean, Count of Paris (born 1965), Orléanist pretender to the French throne, first cousin of Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza (born 1945), pretender to the throne of Portugal and uncle of Philip, Hereditary Prince of Yugoslavia, the second son and heir of Alexander, Crown Prince of Yugoslavia and Pedro's sister Princess Maria da Glória, Duchess of Segorbe. On the maternal side, he is also a first cousin of King Juan Carlos I of Spain (born 1938).
Education and career
Pedro Carlos graduated at forest engineering by the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro and became a realtor in Seville, Spain, where his mother owned the Palace of Villamanrique-de-la-Condessa which she inherited from her father, an Infante of Spain. a real state in the town of Petrópolis through which he collects the laudemy, a 2.5% tax on the value of all real estate negotiations made in downtown Petrópolis. This is because the Brazilian justice understands that the territory now corresponding to the center of Petrópolis have been a private property of the Brazilian imperial family, although this is under question by some politicians.
In 2017 Pedro Carlos held an auction on several Imperial Family items, including the golden pen used by his great-grandmother to sign the Golden Law which abolished slavery in Brazil, which was bought by the Ministry of Culture to be displayed at the Imperial Museum of Brazil. A resident of the Palace of Grão-Pará until 2015, Pedro Calros moved from the to a smaller penthouse in Itaipava, and rented the back of the palace for a parking lot.
Dynastic position
Pedro Carlos is considered to be a pretender to the Brazilian throne by the monarchists who believe the 1908 renunciation to dynastic rights of his paternal grandfather Pedro de Alcântara, Prince of Grão-Pará, was illegal and invalid. Nonetheless, a Spanish newspaper has reported that Pedro Carlos subscribes to a republican point of view. Since the death of his father, he is genealogically the senior representative of the House of Orléans-Braganza.
In 2022 his eldest son, Pedro Thiago, asserted a claim to the headship of the Imperial House of Brazil, believing his father ineligible to head the imperial house since he supposedly declared himself a republican.
Marriages and family
Pedro Carlos has been married three times and widowed twice. His first two marriages resulted in one son from each.
He married Rony Kuhn de Souza (20 March 1938 - 14 January 1979) on 2 September 1975, at Petrópolis. Together, they had one son:
*Pedro Thiago of Orléans-Braganza (born 12 January 1979 at Petrópolis) - On 26 May 1992, Pedro Thiago was kidnapped while on his way to school and held for a ransom reported at $5 million. He was freed on 2 June after police raided a house in a Rio de Janeiro suburb. In January 2002, he was indicted on charges relating to the theft and then sale of a set of porcelain dishes from the Palace of Grão-Pará belonging to his aunt Princess Cristina.
Pedro Carlos's first wife died two days after the birth of their son.
* 50px Grand Master and Sovereign of the Imperial Order of Christ
* 50px Grand Master and Sovereign of the Imperial Order of Saint Benedict of Aviz
* 50px Grand Master and Sovereign of the Imperial Order of Saint James of the Sword
* 50px Grand Master and Sovereign of the Imperial Order of the Southern Cross
* 50px Grand Master and Sovereign of the Imperial Order of Emperor Pedro I
* 50px Grand Master and Sovereign of the Imperial Order of the Rose
Prince Pedro Carlos has also been decorated with a number of other honours:
* 50px Bailiff Grand Cross of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George<ref name=ark/>
*50px Commander of the Order of Cultural Merit
Ancestry
Three of his great-grandparents (#8, #14, #15) were grandchildren of King Louis Philippe of France, while another three (#9, #12, #13) were grandchildren of King Francesco I of the Two Sicilies.