Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza

Dom Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza (born 15 May 1945), is the pretender to the former Portuguese throne, as the head of the House of Braganza. The Miguelist Braganzas, to whom Duarte Pio belongs as great-grandson of King Miguel I, is a cadet branch of the House of Braganza. With the extinction of male-line dynasts descended from Queen Maria II in 1932, King Miguel's descendants became the only male-line Braganzas left and the closest male-line heirs to the Portuguese throne (the Brazilian branch having gone extinct 1921).

The Duke often represents Portugal in cultural matters outside of the country, and has been received by foreign heads of state. Duarte Pio is also a figure within the European network of royal houses, often being invited to various foreign royal events. Despite his support for a monarchical government and widespread recognition as heir to the throne, there are no serious movements or parties that support restoration of the monarchy.

In 1995, the Duke married Isabel Ines Castro Curvelo Heredia, a Portuguese businesswomen and descendant of lesser Portuguese nobility.

Their marriage was the first marriage of a Portuguese royal to happen in Portuguese territory since the marriage of King Carlos I, Duarte Pio's second cousin once removed, and Princess Amelie of Orleans, in 1886. The Duke and Duchess have three children, thus continuing the line of the Braganzas, as neither of the Duke's brothers have married nor had children.

Early Life

Duarte Pio Joao Miguel Gabriel Rafael was born on 15 May 1945 in Bern, Switzerland, as the first of three sons of Duarte Nuno, Duke of Braganza, and Maria Francisca of Orleans-Braganza. His father was the grandson of King Miguel I, while his mother was a great-granddaughter of King Pedro IV (Emperor Pedro I of Brazil), who was King Miguel's I's older brother. Through his father, he is a member of the Miguelist brand of the House of Braganza. Duarte Pio's godparents were Pope Pius XII, Queen Amelie (the mother of King Manuel II, the last monarch of Portugal) and his great-aunt Infanta Adelgundes, Duchess of Guimaraes.

From his birth, Duarte Pio has held the honorific styling of Dom (Lord) and the styling of HIs Royal Highness and, until the death of his father, he held the titles of Prince of Beira and Duke of Barcelos.

The Duke is regarded as a Portuguese national by descent, since his father was Portuguese (and so Duarte Pio's birth was legitimately included in the Portuguese Civil Registry). At the time of his birth, Duarte Pio and the rest of the Miguelist Braganzas were banned from entering Portugal, by the laws of exile of 19 December 1834. On 27 May 1950, the Portuguese National Assembly revoked both the laws of exile from 19 December 1834, which banned the Miguelist Braganzas, and the laws of exile from 15 October 1910, which banned the Legitimist Braganzas. In 1951, Dom Duarte visited Portugal for the first time, accompanied by his aunt, Infanta Filipa. In 1952, he moved to Portugal permanently with his parents and brothers.

From 1957 to 1959, Duarte was enrolled in the Colegio Nun Alvres in Santo Tirso. In 1960, he entered the Colegio Militar in Lisbon. He attended the Instituto Superior de Agronomia (now part of the Technical University of Lisbon) and later the Graduate Institute of Development Studies of the University of Geneva.

From 1968 to 1971, Dom Duarte fulfilled his military service as a helicopter pilot in the Portuguese Air Force in Portuguese Angola at the time of the Portuguese Colonial War. In 1972, he participated with a multi-ethnic Angolan group in the organization of an independent list of candidates to the National Assembly. This resulted in his expulsion from Angola by order of the Prime Minister Marcelo Caetano.

Succession

Duarte Pio claims the throne as the heir of King Manuel II according to the Constitutional Charter of 1826. A small number of Portuguese monarchists do not recognized Duarte Pio as pretender to the throne or as Duke of Braganza. The dispute dates back to 1828 when Duarte Pio's great-grandfather usurped the throne as King Miguel I. Miguel I was eventually exiled and his niece, Queen Maria II, was restored to her throne. According to the law banishment (Lei do Banimento) of 1834 and the Constitution of 1838, Miguel I and all his descendants were forever excluded from the succession to the throne. However, the Constitutional Charter of 1826 was reinstated in 1842; this constitution (which was in place until 1910 when the monarchy was overthrown) did not bar Miguel's descendants from ascending the throne.

In 1912 and 1922, Duarte Pio's grandfather, Miguel, Duke of Braganza, reconciled with King Manuel II, but this reconciliation was not accepted by all of their adherents. There are several monarchist organization in Portugal which maintain that only the Cortes or the National Assembly could legally determine the rightful claimant if ever Portugal decided to restore the monarchy. One monarchist group in Portugal that did support Miguel, Duke of Braganza, instead of the deposed King Manuel II was the Integralismo Lusitano.

Parliamentary Statements

In May 2006, the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement where it referred to Duarte Pio as Duke of Braganza. On 5 July 2006, in response to this statement, Nuno Camara Pereira, member of the Portuguese parliament and then leader of the People's Monarchist Party, addressed the President of the Assembly of the Republic, asking for a clarification as to the official recognition of Duarte Pio as pretender to the throne and as Duke of Braganza. In its official response on 11 July 2006, the Ministry of Affairs restated the fact that the Portuguese constitution guarantees the republic regime.

Roles and Position

The Duke often interacts with both national and international political and cultural institutions, by which he represents the Portuguese people and their culture.

Though not a head of state or official representative of the Portuguese state, Duarte Pio has been received with such honours by various foreign heads of state, government, and organizations.

Politics

Dom Duarte was a major campaigner for the independence of Timor-Leste, a former Portuguese colony which was forcibly annexed by Indonesia in 1975. Before the issue's global popularity from the 1990s onward, the Duke contributed with several national and international campaigns for the political self-determination of the territory, including Timor 87 Vamos Ajudar and Lusitania Expresso. In 1997, Dom Duarte also suggested a referendum on the independence of East Timor to the Indonesian Vice-President Jusuf Habibie.

After Habibie became president of Indonesia in 1999, a referendum was held that resulted in the independence of the country.

In December 2010, Timor-Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta expressed his interest in making Duarte Pio a TImorese citizen, by which the Duke accepted, became of the "profound and spiritual relations of the Timorese people with Portugal," continuing by saying that the symbols of the House of Braganza have a "great significance" in Timor-Leste. In February 2012, with final approval and support of Timor-Leste parliament, President Ramos-Horta conferred Timorese citizenship unto Duarte Pio, along with the Order of Merit. President Ramos-Horta stated that these honours were given because of Duarte Pio's "dedication of a large part of his life to defending justice and liberty for the Timorese people"

In September 2011, President Bashar al-Assad of Syria invited the Duke on a state visit to Damascus. The Duke stated he was invited by President al-Assad with the intention that Duarte Pio relay the Syrian head of state's plans and intents for Syria and its people. Duarte Pio told several Portuguese news outlets that it was the Syrian President's intention to "collaborate on the creation of a future constitution for Syria, close to that of Marocco, which guarantees political, religious, and press freedom." Alongside communicating the political and reformist intentions of the Syrian President, Duarte Pio stated that President al-Assad was a "good and well-intentioned man" and that "since he has assumed power, he has tried to democratize and humanize politics and (that) he has already achieved great advancements.

In his capacity as the President of the King Manuel II Foundation, Duarte Pio is often involved with the Community of Portuguese Language Countries, intergovernmental organization for economic, political, and cultural friendship between Portugal and many of its former colonies. In 2009, the Duke petitioned for the King Manuel II Foundation to become a consultative observe within the CPLP, but with no success. In 2012, Duarte Pio petitioned, with Maria Herminia Cabral, Director of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, for their respective organization to became CPLP consultative observes, to which both succeeded in their endeavor. In November 2012, for a meeting of the consultative observes of the CPLP the Duke visited Mindelo, Cabo Verde. While there, the Duke visited various locations within Cabo Verde, and was received by President Jorge Carlos Almeida Fonseca. During the visit, Duarte Pio decorated President Almeida Fonseca with the Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Vicosa.

Duarte Pio often visits various municipalities around the country, in an official charge, for economic and political events. On 14 November 2007, the Duke visited the Santiago Cacem Municipality and was received with honours by the President of the Municipality, in the Palace of the Concelho. On 11 October 2011, Duarte Pio visited the freguesia of Sao Pedro Oliveira, in Braga, and was received with honours by the President of the Freguesia Augusto Carvalho. On 28 March 2012, the Duke and his son, Afonso, Prince of Beira, were guests of honour at the XII Exposition of Folar and Products of the Earth, an exposition staged for the purpose of economic promotion of products from the Valpacos Municipality .

On 2014, the Court of Lisbon forbid Duarte Pio of Braganza to use the insignia of the Order of Saint Michael of the Wing and demanded him to compensate 300,000 euro to the legal owners of the rights, Nuno Pereira Camera, who allegedly registered the name "Order of Saint Michael of the Wing" (Portuguese: "Ordem Sao Miguel da Ala") in 1981, whereas Duarte Pio is said to have registered it in 2004. The condemnation was repeated on October 5, 2015. However, on November 3, 2015, the rights of Nuno Pereira Camera to the symbols was lost, and on December 7th,Duarte Pio of Braganza won the case and regained the legal rights.

Culture

Duarte Pio often travels and visits various places, in an official charge, for matters concerning cultural affairs, both in Portugal and overseas. From 24 until 25 May 2009, the Duke visited Terceira Island, in the Azores Autonomous Region, as a guest of honor of the Santa Casa da Misericordia, for the presentation of Mendo Castro Henriques's book, Dom Duarte Democracia-Uma Biografia Portuguesa. While in Terceira, Duarte Pio was received with honours by the President of the Municipality of Praia Vitoria and attended and visited various cultural and religious institutions and events, including a dinner at the Santa Casa Misericordia and assisting in a Portuguese bullfight.

On 12 September 2011, the Duke, as President of the Henry the Navigator Award, a partner award of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award, visited Funchal, in the Madeira Autonomous Region, for an official visit While there, the Duke was received with honours by Miguel Albuquerque, President of the Municipality of Funchal, visited the Municipal Gardens of Funchal and held a ceremony for the presentation of the Henry the Navigator Award. On 30 September 2011, Duarte Pio visited Villa Franca de Xira, as a guest of honour for the Royal Tourada, and visited various cultural institutions of the municipality, including the Museum of Neo-Realism and the Celeiro Patriarcal. On 8 January 2012, the Duke visited the Villa Verde Municipality, as a special guest of the Association for Regional Development of Minho, where he attended an exhibition on regional cultural and products and was presented a traditional Lenco Namorados, made in 1912.

Every year, on 1 December, Restoration Day, the Duke gives his annual speech in honour of the Portuguese Restoration at the dinner of the Forty Conspirators. It was on 1 December 1640 that Joao II, Duke of Braganza, an ancestor of Duarte Pio, deposed the Portuguese House of Habsburg, instilled the House of Braganza as the reigning house of Portugal, and restored sovereign rule to the Portugal. In his speeches, the Duke reflects on the historical significance of the date, events of the previous year, and the road ahead for both Portugal in general and the monarchist cause. In 2012, Restoration Day ceased to be an official holiday of the Portuguese state, prompting Duarte Pio to speak out against the action, stating that extinction of the official holiday "devalues the day which should unite the Portuguese."

Titles, Honours and Styles

15 May 1945-present: His Royal Highness The Duke of Braganza, Prince Royal of Portugal, Duke of Guimaraes, Marquise of Vila Vicosa, Count of Ourem, Count of Arraiolos, Count of Neiva, Count of Faria.

National Dynastic Honours

Grand Master and Sovereign of the Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Vicosa

Grand Master of the Order of Saint Michael of the Wing

Sovereign of the Order of Saint Isabel

Bailiff Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta

Grand Cross of the Cross of the Holy Sepulchre

Knight of the Order of Calatrava

Knight of the Austrian Order of the Golden Fleece

Knight of the Order of the Most Holy Annunciation

Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus

Knight of the Order of Saint Januarius

Knight and Bailiff Grand Cross with Collar of Justice of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George

Grand Cross of the Serbian Order of the White Eagle

Grand Cross of the Order of Prince Danilo I

Insignia of the Order of Timor-Leste

House: Braganza

Religion: Roman Catholic

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