Princess Maria Teresa of Brazil

Princess Maria Teresa of Brazil (born 14 July 1959) is member of the Brazilian imperial family, daughter of Pedro Henrique, Prince of Brazil and Princess Maria Elisabeth of Bavaria, she is the twin sister of Princess Maria Gabriela of Brazil.

At birth, Maria Teresa was twelfth in line to the Brazilian throne.

Birth and childhood
The princess spent the beginning of her childhood in the interior of Paraná, where her father lived as a rural producer. In 1965, the imperial family returned to Rio de Janeiro, where Prince Pedro Henrique had bought Fazenda Santa Maria, in Vassouras.

Training
The prince holds a Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Design from the Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro.

Renunciation of rights to the throne
On October 30, 1995, Maria Teresa renounced, for herself and all her future descendants, the rights to succeed to the throne of Brazil.

Marriage and descendants
On 4 November 1995, the same year she renounced her dynastic rights, she married Johannes Hessel Dowe Egbert de Jong (born in Joure, the Netherlands, on 5 March 1954), member of the Dutch Aristocracy, son of Mr. Cornelis Johannes Dowe Egbert de Jong and Mrs. Madeleine Marie de Jong. The couple had two children:


 * Johannes Pedro Michel Marie de Jong, born in London, United Kingdom, on April 24, 1997.
 * Maria Pia Gabriela de Jong, born in Brussels, Belgium, on July 12, 2000.

Maria Teresa lives with her family in Belgium, where she frequently participates in social events related to Brazil.