Bertrand, Prince of Brazil

Prince Bertrand of Orléans-Braganza, Prince Imperial of Brazil (born 2 February 1941, Mandelieu, France) is a member of the Imperial House of Brazil. According to the disputed claims of the Vassouras branch of the family, he is first in the line of succession to the defunct Brazilian throne, and consequently the current Prince Imperial of Brazil. Prince Bertrand is also related to the Royal House of Portugal and the Royal House of France (Orleanist claimants), both by his father's lineage, and to the Royal House of Wittelsbach, by his mother's lineage.

Early life
The third son of Pedro Henrique, Crown Prince of Brazil and Princess Maria Elisabeth of Bavaria, his elder brothers are, in order, Luiz, Crown Prince of Brazil who is the present Head of the Brazilian Imperial Family and Prince Eudes of Orléans-Braganza, who renounced his dynastic rights to the Brazilian Throne in order to marry a commoner.

As with his two elder brothers, Prince Bertrand was born in southern France, 1941, even though the exile imposed to the Imperial Family had already been revoked, in 1920, due to the Second World War. He came to Brazil only after the end of the conflict.

In Brazil, the Imperial Family settled first in the Grão-Pará Palace in the state of Rio de Janeiro, 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 Prince 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.

Education and positions
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. 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 the young prince took close contact with the Catholic intelligentsia to Rome for the great event. Civil pilot, is a reservist of the Brazilian Air Force.

He is a Traditionalist Catholic and a member of Tradition, Family and Property, 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, seen by him as "distinct and harmonious facets of the same ideal." His older brother, Prince Luiz, is also part of the organization. After the spin-off occurred in the entity, the prince and his brother began to collaborate with members linked to the Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira Institute (IPCO) and the Founders' Association.

Besides Portuguese, his native language, Bertrand is fluent in French and Spanish.

Later life
He is not married and has no issue, so his dynastic heir is his younger brother, Prince Antônio of Brazil, who is married to a Belgian princess, Princess Christine of Ligne, with issue.

Both he and his elder brother, Prince Luiz, are engaged in monarchist proselytism in Brazil. 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.

Roles
In recent years, Prince 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. On 2012, Prince Bertrand wrote a book called Psicose Ambientalista (Environmentalist Psychosis), dealing of what he calls "the hoaxes created by radical environmentalists and by eco-terrorists".

Main activist and spokesman of the Brazilian Imperial House for the restoration of the monarchy, Prince Bertrand has gained prominence in the national media and, on some occasions, international media, with the rise and spread of monarchist movements throughout the country. The Prince Imperial participates annually in public meetings with monarchists, 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. On 2016 he gave an interview to Mariana Godoy on her program on RedeTV!, gaining notoriety with the general public. On 22 September 2017 Prince 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. Despite the campaign, politically the monarchist movement is still small, with 11% of support among the population, according to a survey.

Titles and styles

 * 2 February 1941 – 5 July 1981: His Highness Prince Bertrand of Brazil
 * 5 July 1981 – present: His Imperial Highness The Prince Imperial of Brazil

Honors
As member of the House of Orléans-Braganza, Prince Bertrand hold the following positions:
 * Flag of Empire of Brazil (1870-1889).svg Commander-Major of the Imperial Order of Christ
 * Flag of Empire of Brazil (1870-1889).svg Commander-Major of the Imperial Order of St. Benedict of Avis
 * Flag of Empire of Brazil (1870-1889).svg Commander-Major of the Imperial Order of Saint James of the Sword
 * Flag of Empire of Brazil (1870-1889).svg Grand Cross of the Imperial Order of Dom Pedro I
 * Flag of Empire of Brazil (1870-1889).svg Grand Cross & Grand Dignitary-Major of the Imperial Order of the Rose

He has decorated by the republican Brazil:
 * Flag of Brazil.svg: Commander of the Order of Military Merit (19 April 2013)
 * Flag of Brazil.svg: Commander of the Order of Naval Merit (11 June 2015)
 * Flag of Brazil.svg: Commander of the Order of Military Judicial Merit (1 April 2009)

He received the following foreign honors:
 * Flag of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (1816).svg Castroan Royal Family of Two Sicilies: Bailiff Grand Cross of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George
 * Flag of the Order of St. John (various).svg Sovereign Military Order of Malta: Bailiff Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta
 * Flag of the Vatican City.svg Vatican: Knight of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre