The Duke of Bragança turns 70

HRH Dom Duarte Pio, Duke of Bragança

His Royal Highness Dom Duarte Pio, Duke of Bragança celebrates his 70th birthday today. Born on 15th May 1945 in Berne/Switzerland, Dom Duarte and his family were banned from entering Portugal until in 1950 the National Assembly repealed the laws of exile. In 1951 Dom Duarte visited Portugal for the first time accompanied by his aunt the Infanta Filippa. In 1952 he moved to Portugal permanently with his parents and his two brothers.

From 1957 to 1959 Dom Duarte was enrolled in the Colégio Nuno Álvares in Santo Tirso in Northern Portugal. In 1960 he entered the Military College in Lisbon. He attended the Instituto Superior de Agronomia (now part of the Technical University of Lisbon) where he received a degree in agricultural sciences. Later he attended the Graduate Institute of Development Studies of the University of Geneva.

From 1968 to 1971 Dom Duarte did military service and worked as a helicopter pilot in the Portuguese Air Force in Angola. In 1972 he participated with a multi-ethnic Angolan group in the organization of an independent list of candidates to the National Assembly. This resulted in his expulsion from Angola by order of the then Portuguese Prime Minister Marcelo Caetano. He assumed the rights and duties as Head of Portugal's Royal Family on the death of his father, Dom Duarte Nuno, on 24th December 1976.

When Dom Duarte married the Portuguese noblewoman Isabel de Herédia twenty years ago on 13th May 1995 the country enjoyed the first royal wedding since the marriage of King Dom Luís in 1862. The ceremony, televised throughout Portugal and other Portuguese speaking countries including Brazil, Angola and Mozambique, was celebrated in the Monastery of Jerónimos in Lisbon and presided over by the Patriarch of Lisbon, Cardinal António Ribeiro, and attended by the president of the republic, Mário Soares, the president of the National Assembly, the then prime minister Aníbal Cavaco Silva, who was elected president of Portugal in January 2006.

The birth of Infante Afonso, Prince of Beira, on 25th March 1996 was the first royal birth in Portugal since the birth of Dom Manuel II, Portugal’s last King, in 1889. With two more children born in 1997, Infanta Maria Francisca, and Infante Dinis, Duke of Porto, in 1999 the succession is secure and the Portuguese Royal Family florishes in the 21st century, ready to ascend to the throne.

A couple of days before his birthday, Dom Duarte answered questions of the internet platform Jornal I. Asked if he believes that Portugal could regain her Monarchy, he replied: “I believe it is possible, depending on the circumstances.” The existing Portuguese constitution does not allow a referendum of the question of the form of state. Dom Duarte considers these restrictions a limitation of democracy. His father Dom Duarte Nuno had taught his children that they should be ready to serve Portugal in whatever position. “We have to serve as military, civil or king, but we also have to be prepared for exile.”

Dom Duarte is proud to have relations to all parties from the Christian Democrats to the Communists. They invited him to official ceremonies stating that they acknowledge his social activities.

Portuguese celebrates its 800th anniversary

Outside Portugal this anniversary is hardly noticed. The first document in the Portuguese language was signed on 27th June 1214 by King Afonso II - it was his testament.

Afonso became King of Portugal in 1212, succeeding his father King Sancho I. Born on 23rd April 1185 King Afonso did not pursue territory enlargement policies of his father and grandfather, the first King of Portugal of the Burgundy dynasty that established the country's independence, managed to ensure peace with Castile during his reign. 

The first official use of Portuguese: The Testament of King Afonso II.

The transcript of this important European document is available here.

In the last decade of the thirteenth century, King Dinis The Farmer - (1279–1325) legalised Portuguese as the official language of the Kingdom of Portugal, following the example of his grandfather, King Alfonso X of Castile and Leon, who established Castilian as the official language of his kingdom during his reign, which started in 1252.

Although the Portuguese was only formalised this in Dom Dinis, as of 1255, the chancery of King Afonso III of Portugal, the Portuguese used it alongside the Latin in official documents.

A report (in Portuguese, of course) can be watched on RTP's website: Língua portuguesa é usada em documentos oficiais desde há oito séculos.

PS. Accidentally (or intentionally?) the two sons of the heir to the Portuguese throne, HRH Dom Duarte Pio, Duke of Bragança, bear the names of the two important champions of the Portuguese language: Dom Afonso de Santa Maria, Prince of Beira, Duke of Barcelo and Infante Dinis, Duke of Porto.

Portuguese heir celebrates his 18th birthday

Today the Portuguese Monarchists celebrate the coming of age of the heir to the throne: Dom Afonso de Santa Maria, Prince of Beira, Duke of Barcelos was born on 25th March 1996.

The Portuguese Royal Familiy with Dom Duarte Pio (r.) and Dom Afonso de Santa Maria (2nd f. r.).

He is the eldest son and heir to Dom Duarte Pio, Duke of Bragança, the rightful King of Portugal. As the first child of the Duke and Duchess Isabel de Herédia, Prince Afonso de Santa Maria is first in the Line of succession to the Portuguese throne, behind his father.

The Portuguese Royal Family attended the papal mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI on 13th May 2010 in Lisbon. Dom Afonso de Santa Maria is seated in the centre.

Numerous photos of a thanks giving mass in the church Nossa Senhora da Encarnação em Lisboa can be seen here.