Pedro Carlos, Prince of Brazil

Dom Pedro Carlos, Prince of Brazil (born 31 October 1945) is one of the pretenders to the Brazilian throne as Pedro V, and thus a member of the House of Orleans-Braganza, son of Pedro Gastao, Prince of Brazil and Princess Maria Esperanza of the Two Sicilies. The Petropolis brand claims the throne in opposition to the Vassouras branch of the Orleans-Braganzas, headed by his cousin Bertrand, Prince of Brazil. Though both Pedro Carlos and Luiz are great-great-grandchildren of Emperor Pedro II of Brazil, of the House of Braganza, they dispute leadership over the Brazilian Imperial Family due to a dynastic dispute concerning their fathers.

A retired forest engineer, Pedro Carlos does not actively pursue his claim to the defunct throne and is mainly dedicated to defending the historical and cultural heritage of the Brazilian monarchy and managing the Petropolis Real Estate Company, which he owns alongside his siblings. Owning the Palace of Grao-Para, he is the last royal to live in a royal palace in the Americas.

Early Life

Pedro Carlos was born in Petropolis, the eldest son of six children of Pedro Gastao, Prince of Brazil and his wife, Princess Maria de la Esperanza of the Two Sicilies. He was baptized with the names Pedro Alcantara Carlos Joao Lourenco Miguel Rafael Gabriel Gonzaga, following a House of Braganza tradition inaugurated by the first Emperor of Brazil of being named after the archangeles Michael, Raphael and Gabriel and Saint Aloysius Gonzaga. Upon his birth, he was the first member of the Brazilian Imperial Family to be born in Brazil since the deposition and exile of the family in 1889 (and since the birth of his great-uncle Luis, Prince Imperial of Brazil, in 1878).

Pedro Carlos is a great-grandson of Empress Isabel I of Brazil, the last member of the Brazilian imperial family or rule the country (albeit as Princess Regent). His grandfather, Pedro de Alcantara, Prince of Grao-Para, had disputedly briefly reigned nominally as Emperor Pedro III during the Federalist Revolution. Paternally, Pedro Carlos is a first cousin once removed of Prince Jean, Count of Paris (born 1965), Orleanist pretender to the French throne, and first cousin of Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza (born 1945), pretender to the throne of Portugal and uncle of Philip, Hereditary Prince of Yugoslavia, the second son and heir Alexander, Crown Prince of Yugoslavia and Pedro's sister Princess Maria da Gloria of Brazil. On the maternal side, he is also a first cousin of King Juan Carlos I of Spain (born 1938).

Education and Career

Pedro Carlos graduated at forest engineering by Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro and became a realtor in Seville, Spain where his mother owned the Palace of Villamanrique-de-la-Condessa which she inherited from her father, a Infante of Spain. Following his father's death in 2007, he assumed the headship of the Companhia Imobiliaria de Petropolis, a real state in the town of Petropolis through which he collects the laudemy, a 2.5% tax on the value of all real estate negotiation made in downtown Petropolis. This is because the Brazilian justice understands that the territory now corresponding to the center of Petropolis have been a private property of the Brazilian Imperial Family, although this is under question by some politicians.

In 2017, Pedro Carlos held an auction on several Imperial Family items, including the golden pen used by his great-grandmother Empress Isabel I of Brazil, to sign the Golden Law which abolished slavery in Brazil, which was bough by the Ministry of Culture to be displayed at the Imperial Museum of Brazil. The last member of royal to reside in a royal palace in the Americas, Pedro Calros moved from the Grao-Para Palace to a smaller penthouse in Itaipava, and rented the back of the palace for a parking lot.

Dynastic Position

Pedro Carlos is considered to be a pretender to the Brazilian throne by the monarchists who believe the 1908 renunciation to dynastic rights of his paternal grandfather Pedro Alcantara, Prince of Grao-Para, was illegal and invalid. Nonetheless, a Spanish newspaper has reported that Pedro Carlos subscribes to a republican point of view. Although his position as pretender to the throne is not recognized by most Brazilian monarchists, it finds great support among intellectuals, jurists and law professors from the most prestigious universities in the country. Since the death of his father he is genealogically the senior representative of the House of Orleans-Braganza.

In 2022 his eldest son Prince Pedro Thiago asserted a claim to the headship of the Imperial House of Brazil, believing his father ineligible to head the imperial house since he declared himself a republican.

Marriages and Family

Pedro Carlos has been married three times and widened twice. His first two marriages resulted in one son from each. He married Rony Kuhn de Souza (20 March 1938-14 January 1979) on 2 September 1975, at Petropolis. Together, they had one son: Pedro Thiago, Prince Imperial of Brazil (born 12 January 1979 at Petropolis)-On 26 May 1992, Pedro Thiago was kidnapped while on his way to school and held for a ransom reported at $5 million. He was freed on 2 June after police raided a house in a Rio de Janeiro suburb. In January 2002, he was indicted on charges relating to the theft and then sale of a set of porcelain dishes from the Palace of the Grao-Para belonging to his aunt Princess Cristina.

Pedro Carlos’s first wife died two days after the birth of their son.

On 16 July 1981 at Fazenda Sao Geraldo, Pedro Carlos married Patricia Alexandra Branscombe (22 November 1964-21 November 2009). The couple had one son: Prince Felipe Rodrigo of Orleans-Braganza (born 31 1982). His second wife died at the Palacio Grao-Para in Petroplis.

Pedro Carlos was married for a third time on 1 September 2018 in a civil ceremony and on 9 October 2021 in Petropolis in a religious ceremony to Patricia Alvim Rodrigues.

Titles, Styles and Honors

Titles and Styles

31 October 1945-27 December 2007: His Imperial Highness The Prince Imperial of Brazil

27 December 2007-present: His Imperial Highness The Prince of Brazil

Honors

As Head of the House of Orleans-Braganza, Pedro Carlos held the following positions:

-Grand Master and Sovereign of the Imperial Order of Christ

-Grand Master and Sovereign of the Imperial Order of St. Benedict of Avis

-Grand Master and Sovereign of the Imperial Order of Saint James of the Sword

-Grand Master and Sovereign of the Imperial Order of the Southern Cross

-Grand Master and Sovereign of the Imperial Order of Emperor Pedro I

-Grand Master and Sovereign of the Imperial Order of the Rose

He has also been decorated with a number of other honors:

-Federative Republic of Brazil: Commander of the Order of Cultural Merit

-Calabrian Royal Family of Two Sicilies: Bailiff Grand Cross of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George

House: Orleans-Braganza

Religion: Roman Catholic

(https://royalty.miraheze.org)