Luís de Orléans e Bragança

Prince Luís of Orléans-Braganza (26 January 1878 – 26 March 1920), nicknamed "the Perfect Prince", was the second son of Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil and Prince Gaston, Count of Eu, and patriarch of the Vassouras branch of the House of Orléans-Braganza. His maternal grandfather, Pedro II of Brazil, was the last emperor of Brazil. After being declared successor to the title of Head of the Imperial House of Brazil by his brother Pedro de Alcântara, Prince of Grão-Pará, following the latter's abdication to get married, Luiz ended up dying before his mother, Isabel, in 1920.

He was exiled along with his family as the result of the 1889 coup d'état that resulted in the formation of the republic. In 1908, the year he married, his older brother Pedro renounced his claim to succeed his mother in her claim to the imperial throne, leaving Dom Luís as her heir. In this role, he worked with monarchists in Brazil in several attempts to restore the monarchy. At the outbreak of World War I, he enlisted as an officer with the British Armed Forces and saw action in Flanders where he contracted a virulent form of rheumatism that caused his death at the age of 42. His efforts on behalf of the Allies of World War I saw him decorated by Belgium, France and Great Britain.

From a young age he demonstrated a strong and determined personality. While on a trip to Europe with his family, an earthquake occurred on 23 February 1887, and while his older brother Pedro appeared very nervous and cried, Luís simply stood calm and showed no emotions. The differences between him and his oldest brother were well known. His father wrote in a letter dated February 1889 that Pedro was "just as incapable and careless in this [playing pool with Pedro II] as in everything else." Although Pedro was gentle and likeable, he did not like to study and was often clumsy, while Luís had a strong will, was active and apparently intelligent.

Gaston affirmed in another letter, written in March 1890, that "Baby Pedro [was] always notable for laziness and ineptness," while "Luís does the identical course work all by himself with admirable distinction and capacity." The prince very early showed the interest in literature that would result in his authorship of several books about his travels around the world, such as Dans les Alps, Tour d´Afrique, Where four empires meet and Under the Southern Cross.

Luís was always impelled to action thanks to his restless spirit that would take him in his childhood to sports and as an adult to politics. At the height of the campaign for the abolition of slavery in Brazil, he and his brothers published a newspaper in favor of abolitionism in the palace of Petrópolis. When the coup that replaced the monarchy with the republic occurred on 15 November 1889, Isabel preferred to send her children to Petrópolis, where later Luís would remember that "locked up in the palace, they had left us during two long days in the most complete ignorance of what was happening out there" until they were sent back to their parents and then left for forced exile. As they had not been able to take anything with them, except for a few personal objects that they could carry with their hands, the imperial family saw itself in a poor financial situation that was only made worse by Pedro II's refusal to accept the five thousand contos of Réis offered initially by the new republican government. In December 1889, the government stopped the family's income from Brazil. They had no alternative but to accept help from their few friends and from Gaston's father.

I Prince Pedro de Alcântara Luís Filipe Maria Gastão Miguel Gabriel Rafael Gonzaga of Orléans and Braganza, having maturely reflected, have resolved to renounce the right that, by the Constitution of the Empire of Brazil, promulgated on March 25, 1824, accords to me the Crown of that nation. I declare, therefore, that by my free and spontaneous will I hereby renounce, in my own name, as well as for any and all of my descendants, to all and any rights that the aforesaid Constitution confers upon us to the Brazilian Crown and Throne, which shall pass to the lines which follow mine, conforming to the order of succession as established by article 117. Before God I promise, for myself and my descendants, to hold to the present declaration.Cannes October 30, 1908 signed: Pedro de Alcântara of Orléans-Braganza

This renunciation was followed by a letter from Isabel to royalists in Brazil:November 9, 1908, [Castle of] EuMost Excellent Gentlemen Members of the Monarchist Directory,With all my heart I thank you for the congratulations upon the marriages of my dear children Pedro and Luís. Luís' took place in Cannes on day 4 with the brilliance that is desired for so solemn an act in the life of my successor to the Throne of Brazil. I was very pleased. Pedro's shall take place next on day 14. Before the marriage of Luís he signed his resignation to the crown of Brazil, and here I send it to you, while keeping here an identical copy. I believe that this news must be published as soon as possible (you gentlemen shall do it in the way that you judge to be more satisfactory) in order to prevent the formation of parties that would be a great evil for our country. Pedro will continue to love his homeland, and will give all possible support to his brother. Thank God they are very united. Luís will engage actively in everything with respect to the monarchy and any good for our land. However, without giving up my rights I want that he be up to date on everything so that he may prepare himself for the position which with all my heart I desire that one day he will hold. You may write to him as many times as you may want to so that he shall be informed of everything. My strength is not the same as it once was, but my heart is still the same to love my homeland and all those who are so dedicated to us. I give you all my friendship and confidence,

The marriage of Luís and Maria Pia was celebrated on 4 November at Cannes, and that of Pedro and Elizabeth ten days later at Versailles. From the union of Luís and Maria Pia three children were born: Pedro Henrique, who became the direct successor to Princess Isabel and Head of the Imperial House of Brazil after her death in 1921; Luís Gastão, and Pia Maria. Isabel did not take long to reveal her opinion about her grandchildren and wrote in a letter in 1914: "I am sending enclosed a photograph of myself with my grandchildren by Luís. Pedro Henrique is growing continually and is a very intelligent child. His grandparents have a particular love for their darling little grandchildren."

Political activity With the renunciation of the throne by his brother, Luís could finally collaborate effectively with the Brazilian monarchic movement, assuming clearly his position as heir to the throne (after his mother) and trying to assume the leadership of the restoration campaign. His efforts to reverse the damage caused by the imperial family's inertia was valued by their supporters, and in 1909 he presented a political manifest to the Brazilian monarchists with the intent to restart the stalled campaign. He had some success as he was able to congregate coreligionists in several states of Brazil. Luís and his wife, Maria Pia. Below, in old Portuguese: "Prince and Princess Imperial of Brazil" "it costs me so much to be here with crossed arms, when I think that a handful of determined men would be enough to pull out our Fatherland from the claws of the adventurers who explore it".

"I still do not know what will be your attitude in the matter of the candidacies. As for me, I judge both the candidates 'undesirable'; but as we have to choose, I would pick Rui "[Barbosa]", whose partisans represent the element more reasonable and with bigger prestige in the country. It seems to me that we could use to advantage of the moment for an agreement with the members of this group in order to obtain a common effort for the restoration just after the presidential elections. What are your thoughts on it?"

The prince was active from 1907 through to his death in 1920, and argued in favor of federalism, obligatory military service and an improvement in the quality of life for laborers. In the first case, he was in favor of a greater degree of decentralization and economical and political freedom for the Brazilian states. In the second, he refuted the old custom of enlistment to the armed forces based on individuals coming only from particular sectors of society in favor of a truly professional military force formed by elements of all parts of society. The third, and more important case, was his proposal for a monarchy supported by social legislation that could make better conditions for Brazilian laborers possible. The serious illness contracted in the trenches proved resistant to all treatments and his health gradually deteriorated until he died on 26 March 1920. As his mother lived until 1921, her successor in pretense to the throne of Brazil was her grandson, Pedro Henrique, Luís's son.

Legacy Tomb of Prince Luís and Princess Maria Pia in the Royal Chapel of Dreux, France. Prince Luís is largely unknown to Brazilians today. He is remembered for his role as a claimant to the Brazilian throne beginning in 1908, and he was publicly involved in the campaign for restoring the monarchy. He continued to take an active role in monarchist movements until the First World War.

His support for the social welfare of working-class Brazilians, at a time when it was considered a "police case" by the rulers of the First Brazilian Republic, earned him the epithet "perfect prince"

Children By his wife, Maria Pia of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (12 August 1878 – 20 June 1973):

Prince Pedro Henrique of Orléans-Braganza (13 September 1909 – 5 July 1981) Prince Luiz Gastão of Orléans-Braganza (19 February 1911 – 8 September 1931) Princess Pia Maria of Orléans-Braganza (4 March 1913 – 24 October 2000) ∞ René, Count de Nicolaÿ, at Paris, on 12 August 1933. Pia Maria and René had three sons.

Ancestry