Anita Stewart

Anita Rhinelander Morris (August 7, 1886 – September 15, 1977) was an American socialite and heiress who married Prince Miguel, Duke of Viseu, grandson of King Miguel I of Portugal, and the eldest son of Dom Miguel, Duke of Braganza, who was Miguelist claimant to the throne of Portugal from 1866 to 1920.

Early life Anita Rhinelander Stewart was born in Elberon, New Jersey, on August 7, 1886. She was the daughter of Anne "Annie" McKee Armstrong (1864–1925) and William Rhinelander Stewart, Sr. (1852–1929), a wealthy descendant of an old Knickerbocker family. She had one sibling, William Rhinelander Stewart, Jr., a philanthropist and President of the New York State Board of Charities.

Her father was an attorney who managed several trusts for his family. Her parents divorced in August 1906, and afterwards, her mother married Wall Street millionaire James Henry Smith. Smith died in Japan in 1907 while on their honeymoon. Her mother then married New York socialite Jean de Saint Cyr (1875–1966) on April 25, 1915.

Her paternal uncle was the New York State Senator Lispenard Stewart Jr. (1855–1927). and secondly Lt.-Col. Brinsley FitzGerald, son of Sir Peter FitzGerald, 1st Bt. and 19th Knight of Kerry.

Her paternal grandparents were Lispenard Stewart (1809–1867, a great-grandson of Col. Leonard Lispenard and grandnephew of Continental Congressman Lt.-Col. Charles Stewart) and Mary Rogers (née Rhinelander) Stewart (1821–1893), McKee.

Anita Rhinelander Stewart was furthermore a descendant, in legitimate lineage,

Career After her husband died in 1923, in order to regain her American citizenship (as well as for her children), Anita had to renounce her royal title. However, New York society continued to refer to her with her regal title. On September 6, a week preceding her wedding, Franz Joseph I, the Emperor of Austria, bestowed the title of Prinzessin von Braganza (Princess of Braganza) on her, and in her own right, ensuring that Prince Miguel would not have to renounce his title. Her husband was the eldest son of Prince Miguel, Duke of Braganza and Princess Elisabeth of Thurn and Taxis. In order to get the consent of his father to marry Anita, Prince Miguel had to renounce all claim to the throne of Portugal in favor of his younger brother, Prince Francis Joseph.

Isabel "Nadejda" de Bragança (1910–1946), who married Włodzimierz "Vadim" Dorozynski (1906–1933), son of a Polish-Russian naval officer, on August 16, 1930, in Capri, Italy. They divorced in 1932 Miguel de Bragança (1915–1996), a St. George's School graduate, who married Anne Hughson (1921–2017) in 1946, with two daughters (Anita and Michele).

In 1946, Anita married Lewis Gouverneur Morris II (1882–1967), the son of Francis Morris and Harriet Hall (née Bedlow) Morris, in New York City.

Anita died at the age of 91, on September 15, 1977 (68 years to the day of her first marriage), at her home in Newport, Rhode Island.

Ancestry