House of Orléans-Braganza

The House of Orléans-Braganza (Portuguese: Casa de Orléans e Bragança) is, by dynastic legitimacy, the imperial house of Brazil. It was established in 1864 following the marriage of Princess Isabel of Braganza, heiress presumptive to the Brazilian throne, to Prince Gaston of Orléans, Count of Eu. Through this union, the Brazilian branch of the House of Braganza became genealogically linked to the French royal House of Orléans.

Although the House of Orléans-Braganza never reigned, its members became the legitimate successors to the Brazilian imperial throne after the overthrow of the monarchy in 1889, when Emperor Pedro II, the last reigning monarch of the House of Braganza, was deposed in a military coup led by republican factions. Upon the death of Princess Isabel in 1921—the last Brazilian monarch born into the Braganza dynasty—her descendants inherited the dynastic rights and claims of the imperial House of Braganza to the now-defunct Brazilian throne.

The headship of the House of Orléans-Braganza is currently disputed between two branches of the imperial family: the Petrópolis branch, headed by Pedro Carlos of Orléans-Braganza, the agnatic senior member of the house, and the Vassouras branch, headed by Bertrand of Orléans-Braganza. This division originates from the contested validity of the 1908 renunciation of dynastic rights by Pedro de Alcântara, Prince of Grão-Pará, grandfather of the head of the Petrópolis branch. Supporters of the Vassouras branch argue that these rights instead passed to his younger brother, Luís, Prince Imperial of Brazil, grandfather of the current head of that line.