Bertrand of Orléans-Braganza

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Bertrand I of Brazil
Bertrand in 2020
Head of the Imperial House of Brazil
(disputed)
Tenure15 July 2022 - Present
PredecessorLuiz
Heir presumptiveAntônio, Prince Imperial of Brazil
Born (1941-02-02) 2 February 1941 (age 83)
Mandelieu-la-Napoule, Vichy France
Full name
Bertrand Maria José Pio Januário Miguel Gabriel Raphael Gonzaga de Orléans e Bragança e Wittelsbach
HouseOrléans-Braganza
FatherPedro Henrique of Orléans-Braganza
MotherPrincess Maria Elisabeth of Bavaria
ReligionRoman Catholicism

Bertrand, Head of the Imperial House of Brazil (born 2 February 1941, Mandelieu, France) is the head of the Vassouras branch of the House of Orléans-Braganza. He is the claimant to the Brazilian throne as Bertrand I. The Vassouras branch claims legitimacy over the throne against the Petrópolis branch of the family, headed by Pedro Carlos, Prince of Brazil. Both Prince Bertrand and Prince Pedro Carlos are great-great-grandchildren of Emperor Pedro II of Brazil, of the House of Braganza. They disputed leadership over Brazilian Imperial Family due to a dynastic dispute concerning their fathers, who were cousins.

Prince Bertrand was born in Mandelieu, Vichy France, the second son of Pedro Henrique, Prince of Brazil, and Princess Maria Elisabeth of Bavaria. He was the third and last son of the couple to be born abroad. He came to Brazil when he was four years old. He graduated in law at the University of São Paulo. Prince Bertrand is an avid traditionalist conservative, anti-communist and an advocate of right-wing Christian policies. The Prince succeeded his brother as Head of the Imperial House of Brazil. He is the main activist and spokesman for the restoration of the monarchy. He is frequently invited by public and private institutions, including the Federal Government, to participate in official events. He participates in monarchical events and meetings. He travels the country in campaigns to promote the monarchy.

A member of the House of Orléans-Braganza, Prince Bertrand is closely related to the Royal House of Portugal and the Royal House of France (Orleanist claimants), both by his father. He is realted to the Royal House of Bavaria, by his mother. He is a great-grandson of both Empress Isabel of Brazil and King Ludwig III of Bavaria.

Biography[change | change source]

Early life[change | change source]

Prince Bertrand was born in Vichy France, after his mother's family had been forced to leave Bavaria escaping Nazi persecution. He is the third son of Pedro Henrique, Prince of Brazil and Princess Maria Elisabeth of Bavaria. He was the last of the couple's twelve children to be born abroad. His godparents were his great-uncle Prince Gennaro of Bourbon-Two Sicilies and his aunt Princess Pia Maria, Countess of Nicolaÿ. His elder brothers are, in order, Luiz, Prince of Brazil, who is the present Head of the Brazilian Imperial Family according to the Vassouras branch claim and Prince Eudes of Brazil, who renounced his dynastic rights to the Brazilian Throne. By his father's side he is a great-grandson of Empress Isabel of Brazil while by his mother's side he is a great-grandson of King Ludwig III of Bavaria.

Bertrand's father had remained in Europe to complete his studies and find a proper wife. It was only after the Second World War that Prince Pedro Henrique, Princess Maria Elisabeth and their children were able to come to Brazil. Prince Bertrand was four years old.

In Brazil, where the Petrópolis branch of the Imperial Family had already been living since the 1920s, the Vassouras branch settled first in the Grão-Pará Palace in the state of Rio de Janeiro. Bertrand studied in the Jesuit St. Ignatius College. Later his family moved to Paraná. His father bought a farm in the town pf Jacarezinho. Prince Bertrand spent his childhood there. When he was 18 years old, he went to São Paulo. He achieved a bachelor's degree in Law from the Faculty of Law of the University of São Paulo in 1964. He still lives in the city.

Education and positions[change | change source]

From a very young age he received Catholic education. He was guided by his father to the taste for the doctrinal study and the analysis of the national and international events. He participated with enthusiasm in the ideological struggles that marked Brazil in the first half of the 1960s. He made frequent trips to Europe. One of which took place during the First Session of the Second Vatican Council. The young prince took close contact with the Catholic intelligentsia in Rome for the great event. Trained in civil piloting, Prince Bertrand became a reservist of the Brazilian Air Force.

He is a Traditionalist Catholic and a member of Tradition, Family and Property.[1] That was founded and directed by the intellectual conservative leader Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira, of whom he was a pupil, until his death. The catholic and monarchical ideals,[2] are seen by him as "distinct and harmonious facets of the same ideal." His older brother, Prince Luiz, was also part of the organization. The prince and his brother collaborate with the Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira Institute (IPCO) and the Founders' Association. They both oppose same-sex marriage, abortion, and land reform. Bertrand often displays prejudice against Protestantism. He also denounces globalism and some environmental campaigns as ecoterrorism and labels global warming an "environmental myth". He is not against the defense of the environment, but considers that there is a certain exaggeration in the conservation mechanisms currently implemented. He denounces them as marxist and anti-Christian. Besides Portuguese, his native language, Bertrand is fluent in French and comprehends German, his mother's native language, English and Spanish.

Later life[change | change source]

Prince Bertrand is not married and has no children, so his dynastic heir is his younger brother, Antônio, Prince Imperial of Brazil, who is married to a Belgian princess, Princess Christine of Ligne, with children.

Both he and his younger brother, Prince Antônio, are engaged in monarchist proselytism in Brazil.[3] They both played main roles during the campaign for the 1993 plebiscite. This was the only opportunity for a return of the monarchy since the republican coup d'état in 1889. In it, the people were asked to choose which form of government (presidential or parliamentary) and which form of state organization (republic or constitutional monarchy) Brazil should have. The monarchist cause was not successful, receiving only 13.4% of the vote.[4][5]

In 15 July 2022, upon the death of his elder brother Luiz, Prince Bertrand became Head of the Imperial House of Brazil, a role he had already been performing de facto in a while.

Roles[change | change source]

In recent years, Prince Bertrand is coordinator and spokesman of the movement Paz no Campo (Peace in the fields). He has travelled all over Brazil lecturing for farmers and entrepreneurs in defense of private property and free enterprise.[6][7] In 2012, Prince Bertrand wrote a book called Psicose Ambientalista (Environmentalist Psychosis), dealing of what he calls "the hoaxes created by radical environmentalists and by eco-terrorists".[8]

He is the main activist and spokesman of the Brazilian Imperial House for the restoration of the monarchy. He has gained prominence in the national media and, on some occasions, international media,[9] with the rise and spread of monarchist movements throughout the country.[10] He participates annually in public meetings with monarchists.[11] He attends other meetings and lectures, often at the invitation of private and public institutions such as the Brazilian Army, municipal governments, legislative assemblies and even the federal government, mainly for public events related to Brazil's monarchical past.[12] On 2016 he gave an interview to Mariana Godoy on her program on RedeTV!, gaining notoriety with the general public.[13] On 22 September 2017. He was in the program The Noite com Danilo Gentili, currently the largest talk show in the country, breaking the program's record of audience.[14] In 2019 he was the frontpage of the country's top newspaper, the O Estado de S. Paulo, speaking of tradition, conservatism and the relation between his branch of the family, the Bolsonaro clan and government. Despite the campaign, politically the monarchist movement is politically irrelevant. It has between 11% and 32% support among the population, according to surveys.[15]

Titles and honors[change | change source]

Styles of
Prince Bertrand
Reference styleHis Imperial Highness
Spoken styleYour Imperial Highness
Alternative styleSire

Titles and styles[change | change source]

  • 2 February 1941 – 5 July 1981: His Highness Prince Bertrand of Brazil[16]
  • 5 July 1981 – 15 July 2022: His Imperial Highness The Prince Imperial of Brazil[17][16]
  • 15 July 2022 – present: His Imperial Highness The Prince of Brazil

Honors[change | change source]

As member of the House of Orléans-Braganza, Prince Bertrand hold the following positions:

He has decorated by the republican Brazil:

He received the following foreign honors:

References[change | change source]

  1. ↑ "Prince Bertrand of Orleans-Braganza Visits America Archived 15 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine", TFP.org, 30 April 2001
  2. ↑ "A Sour Anniversary for Brazil's Monarchists" by James Brooke, New York Times, 12 November 1989
  3. ↑ "A Sour Anniversary for Brazil's Monarchists" by James Brooke, New York Times, 12 November 1989
  4. ↑ "1993 Brazilian Plebiscite Archived 1 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine" by Scott Bailey, UCSD
  5. ↑ 1993 Human Rights Report Archived 2010-07-11 at the Wayback Machine, US State Department, 31 January 1994
  6. ↑ "Blog de D. Bertrand de Orleans e Bragança". Archived from the original on 2017-05-11. Retrieved 2022-11-13.
  7. ↑ Paz no campo significa “tolerância zero” com o MST e congêneres. In: Catolicismo Archived 2016-03-06 at the Wayback Machine, May 2007
  8. ↑ ORLEANS E BRAGANÇA, D. Bertrand de. Psicose Ambientalista Archived 28 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine. IPCO, 2012.
  9. ↑ "New Plan to Fix Brazil's Royal Mess: Restore the Monarchy". The Wall Street Journal. 2016-06-17. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  10. ↑ "'República está com dias contados', dizem monarquistas após protestos". BBC. 2015-08-17. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  11. ↑ "Monarchical meeting gather 250 people in Flamengo". O Globo. 2017-06-10. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  12. ↑ "Prince Imperial of Brazil visits São Vicente". O Globo. 2017-03-19. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  13. ↑ "Mariana Godoy receive Dom Bertrand de Orleans e Bragança". Rede TV!. 2016-05-27. Archived from the original on 2017-04-18. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
  14. ↑ "Danilo Gentili recebe o Príncipe Dom Bertrand no The Noite". SBT. 2017-09-22. Archived from the original on 2022-11-13. Retrieved 2017-11-18.
  15. ↑ Instituto Paraná Pesquisas
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh, ed. (1977). Burke's Royal Families of the World, Volume 1: Europe & Latin America. London: Burke's Peerage. p. 59. ISBN 0-85011-023-8.
  17. ↑ Casa Imperial do Brasil Archived 21 December 2016 at the Wayback Machine (in Portuguese)
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 18.4 18.5 18.6 18.7 BUYERS, Christopher. The Royal Ark.
  19. ↑ Casa Imperial do Brasil. Biografia Archived 23 February 2013 at the Wayback Machine.
  20. ↑ MARIE, Michelle (2012) (in Portuguese). Cavaleiros na Ordem Eqüestre do Santo Sepulcro de Jerusalém[permanent dead link].

Other websites[change | change source]

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