Bertrand of Orléans-Braganza (born 2 February 1941, in Mandelieu-la-Napoule, Vichy France) is the head of the Vassouras branch of the House of Orléans-Braganza and one of two claimants to the defunct Brazilian throne. He succeeded his brother Luiz of Orléans-Braganza to the claim on 15 July 2022. The Vassouras branch claims the throne in opposition to the Petrópolis branch of the Orléans-Braganzas, headed by Pedro Carlos Orléans-Braganza. Although Bertrand and Pedro Carlos respectively were and are great-grandchildren of Princess Isabel (daughter of Emperor D. Pedro II), of the House of Braganza, they disputed leadership over the Brazilian Imperial Family due to a dynastic dispute concerning their fathers, who were cousins.
Born in Mandelieu-la-Napoule, France, the third child of Pedro Henrique of Orléans-Braganza, and Princess Maria Elisabeth of Bavaria. He was the third and last child of the couple to be born abroad, and came to Brazil at the age of four. In Brazil, he graduated in law from the University of São Paulo and became a student of Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira and a devoted member of Tradition, Family and Property and later the Instituto Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira.[1] Prince Bertrand is an avid traditionalist conservative, anticommunist, and outspoken advocate of right-wing Christian policies. Chaste, the Prince succeeded his brother as Head of the Imperial House of Brazil and is the main activist and spokesperson for the restoration of the monarchy, having gained prominence in the national media and, on occasion, in the international media. He is frequently invited by public and private institutions, including the Federal Government, to participate in official events, as well as to participate in monarchic events and meetings and to travel the country campaigning for the monarchy.[2][3]
Although Prince Bertrand and Prince Pedro Carlos are great-grandsons of Emperor Pedro II of Brazil, of the House of Braganza, they disputed the leadership of the Brazilian Imperial Family due to a dynastic dispute regarding their parents, who were cousins. A member of the Brazilian Imperial House, Prince Bertrand is closely related to the House of Braganza and the House of Orléans (Orleanist claimants), both through his paternal lineage, and with the House of Wittelsbach, through his maternal lineage. He is the great-grandson of Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil and King Louis III of Bavaria.[4][5][6]
The third son of Pedro Henrique of Orléans-Braganza and Princess Maria Elisabeth of Bavaria, his elder brothers are, in order, Luiz of Orléans-Braganza who claimed to be Head of the Brazilian Imperial Family until 2022 and Eudes of Orléans-Braganza, who renounced his dynastic rights to the Brazilian throne in order to marry a commoner.[citation needed]
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 after the end of the conflict.[citation needed]
In Brazil, the family settled first in the Grão-Pará Palace in the state of Rio de Janeiro,[citation needed][dubious – discuss] 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.[citation needed]
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.[citation needed] 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. A civil pilot, he is a reservist of the Brazilian Air Force.[citation needed]
Bertrand is a Traditionalist Catholic and a member of Tradition, Family and Property,[7] 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,[8] seen by him as "distinct and harmonious facets of the same ideal."[This quote needs a citation] His older brother, Luiz, was also part of the organization. After a 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.[citation needed]
Besides Portuguese, his native language, Bertrand is fluent in French and Spanish.[citation needed]
He is not married and has no issue, so his dynastic heir is his younger brother, Antonio of Orléans-Braganza, who is married to a Belgian aristocrat, Princess Christine of Ligne, with issue.[citation needed]
Both he and his elder brother, Luiz, were engaged in monarchist proselytism in Brazil.[8] 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.[9][10]
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.[11][12]
As the 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,[13] with the rise and spread of monarchist movements throughout the country.[14] He participates annually in public meetings with monarchists,[15] 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.[16] In 2016 he gave an interview to Mariana Godoy on her program on RedeTV!, gaining notoriety with the general public.[17] 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.[18] Despite the campaign, politically the monarchist movement is still small, with 11% of support among the population, according to a survey.[19]
Bertrand supports typically Traditionalist Catholic ideas: he opposes same-sex marriage, favours the illegality of abortion and is against the demarcation of indigenous territory in Brazil.[20] He has also criticised the progressivism of Pope Francis, although he does recognize him as the legitimate pope.[citation needed]
He is a climate change denialist and has published a book entitled "Psicose Ambientalista" ("Environmentalist Psychosis"), denouncing with what he calls "the hoaxes created by radical environmentalists and by eco-terrorists".[21][22]
As Head of the Brazilian Imperial Family, Bertrand claims the following positions:[23]
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Grand Master and Sovereign of the Imperial Order of Christ_-_ribbon_bar.png/1280px-Imperial_Order_of_Saint_Benedict_of_Aviz_(Brazil)_-_ribbon_bar.png){kind=small}
Grand Master and Sovereign of the Imperial Order of Saint Benedict of Aviz
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.svg/1280px-436px_ribbon_bar_of_the_Order_of_the_Rose_(Brazil).svg.png){kind=small}
Grand Master and Sovereign of the Imperial Order of the RoseBertrand has also received other honours:[23]
Bailiff Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta
Knight of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre[24]
Bailiff Grand Cross of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George
Grand Cross of the Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa
Medal of the Pacifier Duke of Caxias (2009)[25]
Grand Cross of the Order of Military Judicial Merit (2009)[26]
Commander of the Order of Military Merit (Brazil) (2013)[27]
Medal of Tiradentes (2018)[28]
