Duarte Nuno, Duke of Braganza

Duarte Nuno, Duke of Bragança (1907-1976) was the son of Miguel II, Duke of Braganza and his second wife, Marie Therese Princess zu Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg.

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He became the Duke of Bragança in 1920, when his father abdicated in his favor, passing over his elder brother Miguel. When he was 18 years old his family line was reportedly reconciled with the head of the senior Bragança line, the deposed king Manuel II of Portugal. It has been alleged that the king's representative granted the Duchy of Braganza to the Migueline line at that time. At the death of his father Miguel II in 1927, he became the sole head of their line. At the early death of the childless King Manuel II in 1932, Duarte Nuno became the pretender to the Portuguese throne. At the time, other potential claimants were Friedrich Christian, Prince of Saxony (as cognatic heir of his great-grandmother Queen Maria II of Portugal), the Prince Imperial of Brazil and Prince of Grão Para (a great-grandson of Emperor Pedro I of Brazil), and the Duke of Loulé.

Related Topics:
Manuel II of Portugal - Duchy of Braganza - Maria II of Portugal - Pedro I of Brazil

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In 1942, Duarte Nuno married Maria Francisca de Orleans-Bragança (1914-1968), a princess of Brazil, daughter of the Prince of Grão Para and a great-granddaughter of Emperor Pedro II of Brazil. This marriage united the two lines of Portuguese royal descent from King Miguel I and Miguel's older brother and rival Emperor Pedro I of Brazil / King Pedro IV of Portugal. The couple had three sons:

Related Topics:
Brazil - Pedro II of Brazil - Miguel I - Pedro I of Brazil - Pedro IV of Portugal

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• Duarte Pio, current Duke of Bragança (born 1945).
• Miguel de Bragança, 7th Duke of Viseu (born 1946).
• Henrique de Bragança, 4th Duke of Coimbra (born 1949).

When in 1950 Portugal abolished the Ban Law, which excluded the Royal Family from the country, the Royal Family returned and was presented with a residence in Portugal by the Fundação Casa de Bragança.

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