Background
Antônio was born in Rio de Janeiro, the sixth son of Prince Pedro Henrique of Orléans-Braganza and of his wife, Princess Maria of Bavaria.
Antônio was born in Rio de Janeiro, the sixth son of Prince Pedro Henrique of Orléans-Braganza and of his wife, Princess Maria of Bavaria.
He is second in line of succession to the former Brazilian throne, according to the disputed claims of the Vassouras branch of the family. In Brazil he is commonly addressed using the prefix Dominus In 1976, Antônio earned a bachelor"s degree in Engineering (with a specialization in Major Structural Projects) from the University of Barra do Piraí.
Dom Antônio"s eldest brother is Prince Luiz of Orléans-Braganza, the current Head of the Brazilian Imperial Family and, from a monarchist perspective, de jure Emperor Luiz I of Brazil.
Although he is the sixth brother, Antônio follows Bertrand in the succession order because three older brothers renounced their claims to the throne in order to marry commoners. Some Brazilian royalists consider marriage of Prince Antônio with Christine de Ligne as a mésalliance or morganatic, since the Princes of Ligne were never a sovereign family, nor a mediatised family.
While it is true that the Princes of Ligne sold their immediate principality and the imperial abbey of Edelstetten to the House of Esterházy in 1804. Before it was mediatised to Bavaria in 1806.
The family managed to keep their seat in the Imperial Diet, with membership in the Council of the Counts of Westphalia as Counts of Fagnolles and has since intermarried with such grand families like the Habsburgs, Bourbons, Croÿs, Arenbergs with dynastic rights.
Antônio is an artist, usually painting water color landscapes depicting buildings, ranches, and farms typical of colonial Brazil. In May 1999 he held an exhibition, "A Herança Portuguesa no Brasil Colonial" (The Portuguese Heritage in Colonial Brazil) at Ipanema Park in Portugal. In 2001 he held exhibitions at Curitiba and at Joinville.
His work has also been displayed in the Crystal Palace in Petropolis, the Museu Nacional de Belas Artes in Rio de Janeiro, and the Galeria Quadrante and the Museu da Casa Brasileira in São Paulo Paulo.
Titles and styles He has been styled as Prince and as His Royal Highness throughout his life. In Brazil, where the honorific "Dom" has disappeared from everyday use, he is regularly called "Dom Antônio".