Bertrand of Orléans-Braganza
Bertrand of Orléans-Braganza (born 2 February 1941, in Mandelieu-la-Napoule, Vichy France) is a member of the deposed Imperial House of Brazil. According to the disputed claims of the Vassouras branch of the family, he is first in the line of succession to the defunct Brazilian throne, and as such is the current claimant of the title of Prince Imperial of Brazil. Bertrand is also related to the House of Braganza and the House of Orléans (Orleanist claimants), both by his father's lineage, and to the House of Wittelsbach by his mother's  lineage. Biography. Early life. The third son of Prince Pedro Henrique of Orléans-Braganza and Princess Maria Elisabeth of Bavaria, his elder brothers are, in order, Prince Luiz of Orléans-Braganza who is the present Head of the Brazilian Imperial Family and Prince Eudes of Orléans-Braganza, who renounced his dynastic rights to the Brazilian throne in order to marry a commoner. As with his two elder brothers, Bertrand was born in southern France, 1941, even though the exile imposed on the family had already been revoked, in 1920, due to the Second World War. He came to Brazil only  after the end of the conflict. In Brazil, the family settled first in the Grão-Pará Palace in the state of Rio de Janeiro, where he carried out part of his secondary studies in the jesuit St. Ignatius College. Later his family moved to Paraná, where his father bought a farm and Bertrand spent his childhood. When he was 18 years old, he went to São Paulo, where he achieved a bachelor's degree in Law from the Faculty of Law of the University of São Paulo in 1964. He still lives in São Paulo. Education and positions. From a  very young age he received Catholic formation, being guided by his father to the taste for the doctrinal study and the analysis of the national and international events. He participated with enthusiasm in the academic banks of the ideological struggles that marked Brazil in the first half of the sixties. His formation was completed with frequent trips to Europe, one of which took place during the entire First Session of the Second Vatican Council, when he took close contact with the Catholic intelligentsia to Rome for the great event. Civil pilot, is a reservist of the Brazilian Air Force. He  is a Traditionalist Catholic and a member of Tradition, Family and Property, of traditionalist Catholic inspiration, founded and directed by the intellectual leader Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira until his death. There it diffuses from the catholic and monarchical ideals, seen by him as "distinct and harmonious facets of the same ideal." His older brother, Luiz, is also part of the organization. After the spin-off occurred in the entity, he and his brother began to collaborate with members linked to the Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira Institute (IPCO) and the Founders' Association. Besides Portuguese, his native language, Bertrand is fluent in  French and Spanish. Later life. He is not married and has no issue, so his dynastic heir is his younger brother, Prince Antonio of Orléans-Braganza, who is married to a Belgian aristocrat, Princess Christine of Ligne, with issue. Both he and his elder brother, Luiz, are engaged in monarchist proselytism in Brazil. They both played main roles during the campaign for the 1993 plebiscite, which represented the hitherto only real opportunity for a return of the monarchy since the proclamation of the republic, in 1889. In it, the people were asked to choose which form of government (presidential or  parliamentary) and which form of state organization (republic or constitutional monarchy) Brazil should have. The monarchist cause was not successful, receiving only 13.4% of the vote. Roles. In recent years, Bertrand is coordinator and spokesman of the movement "Paz no Campo" (Peace in the fields), and has traveled all over Brazil lecturing for farmers and entrepreneurs in defense of private property and free enterprise. In 2012, Bertrand wrote a book called "Psicose Ambientalista" (Environmentalist Psychosis), dealing of what he calls "the hoaxes created by radical environmentalists and by eco-terrorists". Main activist and spokesman of the Brazilian Imperial House for  the restoration of the monarchy, Bertrand has gained prominence in the national media and, on some occasions, international media, with the rise and spread of monarchist movements throughout the country. He participates annually in public meetings with monarchists, in addition to attending other meetings and conducting lectures, often at the invitation of private institutions, municipal governments and legislative assemblies, mainly for public events related to Brazil's monarchical past. In 2016 he gave an interview to Mariana Godoy on her program on RedeTV!, gaining notoriety with the general public. On 22 September 2017 Bertrand participated in the program The Noite  com Danilo Gentili, currently the largest talk show in the country, breaking the program's record of audience. Despite the campaign, politically the monarchist movement is still small, with 11% of support among the population, according to a survey. Political opinions. Bertrand supports typically conservative ideas: he opposes same-sex marriage, favours the illegality of abortion in all cases and is against the demarcation of indigenous territory in Brazil. He has also criticised the progressivism of Pope Francis, although he does recognize him as the legitimate pope.