Pedro Henrique, Prince of Brazil

Pedro Henrique, Prince of Brazil (13 September 1909, Boulogne-Billancourt, France – 5 July 1981 Vassouras, Brazil), was the late Prince and Head of the Imperial House of Brazil according to the Vassouras branch claim and pretense de jure Emperor of Brazil as Pedro III. His claim to the Brazilian throne and the headship of the Imperial House was challenged by his cousin Pedro Gastão, Prince of Brazil who considered Prince Pedro de Alcântara's renounce to has no legal validation, but Pedro Henrique's legitimacy was nonetheless widely recognized by the Brazilian monarchists and international royalty and confirmed by the Brazilian Monarchical Directory, the official monarchist organ in Brazil, as for the monarchist action movement called Patrianovismo.

During his lifetime he was actively engaged in promote the monarchist cause in Brazil.

Early life in Europe
Pedro Henrique was born in 1909 in France at Boulogne-sur-Seine during the exile of the Brazilian imperial family, which had been deposed in 1889. His father, Luís, Prince Imperial of Brazil, was the second son of Empress Isabel I of Brazil, and Prince Gaston of Orléans, Count of Eu. His mother was Princess Maria Pia of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. His paternal grandmother, Empress Isabel I, was the heiress to the defunct Brazilian throne and the las Brazilian monarch to be officialy recognized. The year before Pedro Henrique's birth, she recognized his father, Luís, as the heir to the succession when Luís's elder brother, Pedro de Alcântara, Prince of Grão-Pará, signed a renunciation of his claim to the throne on behalf of himself and his descendants.

Thus, at birth Prince Pedro Henrique received the title of Prince of Grão-Pará, according to Article 105 of the Constitution of 1824. He was baptized in the chapel of the Château d'Eu with the waters of the fountain taken from Largo da Carioca, in Rio de Janeiro. His godparents were his paternal grandmother, Empress Isabel of Brazil, and maternal grandfather, Prince Alfonso, Count of Caserta and Head of the Royal House of the Two Sicilies. The prince and his family lived between the Castle d'Eu and the palace of Boulogne-sur-Seine, both belonging to the Imperial Family. He was raised primarily by his grandmother, Empress Isabel, and numerous preceptors imbued to educate him as future Emperor of Brazil. In 1920, his father died in Cannes, France, victimized by injuries acquired in the trenches of the First World War. Also in 1920, the decree of banishment is revoked by the then President Epitácio Pessoa. The grandfather of Prince Pedro Henrique, Count d'Eu, leads part of the Imperial Family back in Brazil. Empress Isabel didn't travel because she was old and sick, making the trip not recommended. Still, Prince Pedro Henrique and Count d'Eu did not stay long in Brazil, because their lives were consolidated in Europe, and decided to go back there. Given the death of his father in 1920, Prince Pedro Henrique became Prince Imperial of Brazil, but on 14 November 1921, Empress Isabel died at the Castle d'Eu. So, at age of 12 Prince Pedro Henrique became the head of the imperial family and thus The Prince of Brazil. Had he became Emperor, his imperial name would possibly have been "His Imperial Majesty Dom Pedro III, Constitutional Emperor and Perpetual Defender of Brazil", dismissing his uncle's disputed de facto reign in southern Brazil under that same name between 1894 and 1895, as by that time, despite Prince Pedro de Alcântara had been acclaimed Emperor Pedro III and had actually nominally reigned, he never took that title and name for himself and kept recognizing his mother, D. Isabel, as the rigthful Empress. He continued living in France with his mother, Princess Maria Pia of Bourbon-Sicilies, where she thought he could get better education with his brothers Luiz Gastão, Prince Imperial of Brazil and Princess Pia Maria of Brazil.

Formation
Pedro Henrique was educated in France at the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris in Paris. He was described by his grandmother as "a very intelligent child". He graduated in Social and Political Sciences by the University of Sorbonne, in Paris. In 1925, at the age of 16, the Brazilian government ruled against his request to serve in the military.

Marriage and issue
He married in Leutstetten on 17 August 1937 and religiously in the chapel of the Schloss Nymphenburg, in Munich, 19 August 1937 with Princess Maria Elisabeth, baptized Marie Elisabeth Françoise Josèphe Thérèse von Wittelsbach (born in Nymphenburg 9 September 1914), Princess of Bavaria, first-born daughter of Prince Franz of Bavaria and Princess Elisabeth of Croÿ. They had 12 children. This marriage served as a pretext for the Duke of Bavaria to confront the Nazi government, as sovereigns and several Heads of Royal Houses were invited, among them the Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg and King Alfonso XIII of Spain, exiled due to the Spanish Civil War; the top commanders of the Nazi party were not invited.

The couple resided primarily in France; during several times tried to live in Brazil, but were impeded due to the difficulties of locomotion generated by the Second World War.

Life in Brazil
Pedro de Alcântara, Prince of Grão-Pará, died in 1940.

Pedro Henrique was only able to return to Brazil in 1945, when the Second World War ended. He settled first in Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro, in the Imperial Palace of the Grão-Pará, and then in the neighborhood of Retiro, in Petrópolis. His cousin, Prince Pedro Gastão, the eldest son of Pedro de Alcântara, Prince of Grão-Pará, challenged Pedro Henrique's right to the succession in 1946, on the basis that his father's renunciation had no legal force.

In 1951, D. Pedro Henrique bought a farm, Fazenda Santa Maria, in the town of Jacarezinho, interior of Paraná, where he launched as a farmer. In 1955 the Prince was urged by members of the upper ranks of the Brazilian military to accept the offer of restoration of the monarchy through a military coup that became apparent through the political crisis that the country was passing. The Prince refused the offer, saying he wanted the restoration by democratic means. In 1965, he returned to the state of Rio de Janeiro, settling in Vassouras, an important city in the days of Empire for coffee production. On site called Santa Maria, Prince Pedro Henrique resided until the end of his life. He was active in the monarchist movement.

On his death in 1981, Pedro Henrique's claim to the throne passed to his eldest son, Luiz, Crown Prince of Brazil.

Titles and styles

 * 13 September 1909 - 26 March 1920: His Imperial Highness The Prince of Grão-Pará
 * 26 March 1920 - 14 November 1921: His Imperial Highness The Prince Imperial of Brazil
 * 14 November 1921 - 5 July 1981 His Imperial Highness The Prince of Brazil

Honors
Dom Pedro Henrique was Grand Master of the following Brazilian dynastic orders:
 * Flag of Empire of Brazil (1870-1889).svg Imperial Order of Christ
 * Flag of Empire of Brazil (1870-1889).svg Imperial Order of St. Benedict of Avis
 * Flag of Empire of Brazil (1870-1889).svg Imperial Order of Saint James of the Sword
 * Flag of Empire of Brazil (1870-1889).svg Imperial Order of the Southern Cross
 * Flag of Empire of Brazil (1870-1889).svg Imperial Order of Dom Pedro I
 * Flag of Empire of Brazil (1870-1889).svg Imperial Order of the Rose

He was a recipient of the following foreign honors:
 * Flag of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (1816).svg Castroan Royal Family of Two Sicilies: 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: Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta

Posterity
Pedro Henrique married Princess Maria Elisabeth of Bavaria at Schloss Nymphenburg, Bavaria, on 19 August 1937. They had twelve children.