Prince Antônio Gastão of Brazil

Prince Antônio Gastão of Brazil MC (Antônio Gastão de Orléans e Bragança; 9 August 1881 – 29 November 1918) was a Prince of Brazil and Prince of Orléans-Braganza who served as Captain in the forces of the British Empire during World War I.

Early life
Antônio was born in Paris, the third and last son of Empress Isabel I of Brazil, and her husband Prince Gaston of Orléans, Count of Eu. His father was a grandson of the last King of France, Louis Philippe I, and his mother was the eldest daughter and heir of Emperor Pedro II of Brazil. He was baptised on 27 August 1881. His full name was Antônio Gastão Luiz Filipe Francisco de Assis Maria Miguel Rafael Gabriel Gonzaga; his family affectionately called him "Totó".

After his grandfather was deposed in a military coup in Brazil, he and his family were sent into exile in Europe. As a child he was chronically sick with bronchitis. He was educated in Paris, and then he went at the Theresian Military Academy in Wiener Neustadt, Austria, where his brothers studied with the permission of Emperor Franz Joseph I, their cousin. After graduation, he became a Hussar lieutenant in the Austro-Hungarian Army between 1908 and 1914.

War and final years
When World War I broke out, Antônio tried to enlist but was prevented from joining the French armed forces by a law that forbade members of the deposed French royal family from serving in the military (he was considered a member of the dynasty, since his father was born a Prince of France). Aiming to defend his father's fatherland, instead, he was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Royal Canadian Army armoured regiment called Royal Canadian Dragoons, where he served attached to the British Army's Royal Flying Corps as a pilot and intelligence officer. He was promoted to captain in 1916, and was awarded the Military Cross in 1917. He was aide-de-camp to the commander of the Canadian Cavalry Brigade, Brigadier-General Seely, 1st Baron Mottistone, from February 1917 until May 1918, and then was seconded for duty with the War Office in July.

Antônio died from injuries sustained in an air crash at Edmonton, London, shortly after the end of the war. His remains were placed in the Royal Chapel of Dreux, in France.

Titles and style

 * 9 August 1881 – 29 November 1918: His Royal Highness Prince Luís of Brazil

Honors

 * Flag of Empire of Brazil (1870-1889).svg Brazil: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Pedro I
 * Flag of Empire of Brazil (1870-1889).svg Brazil: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Rose
 * Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Christ
 * Flag of Spain (1785-1873 and 1875-1931).svg Spain: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Charles III
 * Flag of Bulgaria.svg Bulgaria: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit
 * Flag of Japan.svg Japan: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Rising Sun
 * Red Ensign of South Africa (1912–1951).svg South Africa: 1st Class Natal Native Rebellion Medal
 * Flag of France (1794–1958).svg France: Knight of the Legion of Honour of France