Prince Luiz | |||||
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Prince of Orléans-Braganza | |||||
Head of the Imperial House of Brazil (disputed) |
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Tenure | 5 July 1981 – present | ||||
Predecessor | Pedro Henrique | ||||
Heir presumptive | Bertrand, Prince Imperial of Brazil | ||||
Born |
Mandelieu-la-Napoule, France |
6 June 1938 ||||
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House | Orléans-Braganza | ||||
Father | Prince Pedro Henrique of Orléans-Braganza | ||||
Mother | Princess Maria Elisabeth of Bavaria | ||||
Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Full name | |
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Luiz Gastão Maria José Pio |
Brazilian Imperial Family (Vassouras branch) |
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Styles of Prince Luiz |
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Reference style | His Imperial and Royal Highness |
Spoken style | Your Imperial and Royal Highness |
Alternative style | Sir |
Prince Luiz of Orleans-Braganza (born 6 June 1938) is the head of the Vassouras branch of the House of Orléans-Braganza and a claimant to the defunct Brazilian throne. The Vassouras branch claims the throne in opposition to the Petrópolis branch of the Orléans-Braganzas, headed by Prince Pedro Carlos of Orléans-Braganza. Though both Prince Luiz and Prince Pedro Carlos are great-great-grandchildren of Emperor Pedro II of Brazil, of the House of Braganza, they dispute leadership over Brazilian Imperial Family due to a dynastic dispute concerning their fathers, who were cousins.
Prince Luiz actively claims the throne and participates in matters concerning Brazil's imperial past.
Luiz Gastão Maria José Pio was born on 6 June 1938, in Mandelieu-la-Napoule, France, as the oldest son Prince Pedro Henrique of Orléans-Braganza, the Vassouras great-grandson of Emperor Pedro II of Brazil, and his wife, Princess Maria Elisabeth of Bavaria, granddaughter of King Ludwig III of Bavaria. Through his father, he is a member of the Vassouras branch of the House of Orléans-Braganza, a cadet branch of the House of Braganza and the House of Orléans. Through both of his parents, Luiz is a cousin to many heads of royal families throughout the world, including Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza, Henri Antoine, Hereditary Prince of Ligne, Archduke Leopold Franz of Austria, and Henri, Count of Paris. Luiz's godparents were Princess Maria di Grazia of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, his paternal grandmother, and Prince Ludwig of Bavaria, his maternal uncle. From his birth, Luiz has held the honorific styling of Dom (Lord) and the styling of His Imperial and Royal Highness and, until the death and succession of his father, he held the title of Prince Imperial of Brazil.