Isabelle, comtesse de Paris
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Princess Isabelle of Orléans-Braganza became by marriage duchess of Orléans, of Valois, of Chartres, of Guise, of Enghien, of Vendome, of Penthievre, of Aumale, of Nemours and of Montpensier, dauphine of Auvergne, princess of Joinville, princess of Condé, etc., titular Countess of Paris. She was born on August 13, 1911 and died on July 5, 2003.
She was the eldest daughter of Prince Pedro de Alcantara of Orléans-Braganza, Prince of Grao Para, heir of the Empire of Brazil (1875-1940) and of his wife (in contravention to House Laws of the Brazilian Imperial Family) the Countess Elisabeth Dobrzensky of Dobrzenicz (1875-1951). Therefore she was the eldest sister of the present head of the Petrópolis Branch of the imperial family of Brazil. She was christened as namesake of her grandmother, the then Titular Empress. Her father had become in 1891 Prince Imperial of Brazil to the royalists, as his grandfather Pedro II died and his mother, the Princess Imperial of Brazil, became the pretender. However, in 1908 prince Pedro wanted to marry a noblewoman whom his mother did not approve as sufficiently royal to become a member of the imperial dynasty. Therefore, dom Pedro renounced his rights to succession and to his title Prince Imperial of Brazil. He and his issue continued to use the family titulary Prince/ss of Orléans-Braganza. At the death of the deposed Manuel II of Portugal in 1932, her father became a possible heir to the defunct kingdom of Portugal, as he had not renounced such rights.
For those who deny the validity of the renunciation of Isabelle's father from his rights to Imperial Brazil in 1908, she was a Princess of Brazil with the title of Imperial and Royal Highness.
Her paternal grandparents were Louis Philippe Marie Ferdinand Gaston, comte d'Eu (1842 - 1922) and Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil. Gaston was the eldest son of Louis Charles Philippe Raphael, duc de Nemours and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duchess in Saxony. Isabella was the eldest daughter of Pedro II of Brazil and Teresa of the Two Sicilies.
In 1931 Isabelle married her cousin Henri, comte de Paris(1908-1999), pretender to the throne of France since 1940. They had eleven children, including his successor Henri, comte de Paris, duc de France.
Princess Isabelle, called Madame, and her husband used the French Royal coat of arms. She survived her former husband by four years.
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Forefathers - John VI of Portugal - Queen Carlota Joaquina First generation - Pedro I - Empress Leopoldina - Princess Amélie of Leuchtenberg Fourth generation - Prince Luiz of Orleans-Braganza - Princess Maria Pia Fourth generation - Prince Pedro de Alcantara of Orléans-Braganza - Countess Elisabeth Dobrzensky |
