Prince Bertrand of Orléans-Braganza is a member of the Imperial House of Brazil.
Background
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. The third son of Prince Pedro Henrique of Orléans-Braganza and Princess Maria Elisabeth of Bavaria, his elder brothers are, in order, Prince Luiz of Orléans-Braganza 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.
Career
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. According to the Pró Monarquia Brazilian monarchist website, his full title is "His Imperial and Royal Highness, The Prince Imperial of Brazil, Dom Bertrand of Orléans-Braganza (in Portuguese: "Sua Alteza Imperial e Real, Princípe Imperial do Brasil, Dom Bertrand de Orléans e Bragança"). As with his two elder brothers, Prince Bertrand was born in France, even though the exile imposed to the Imperial Family had already been revoked, due to the Second World War.
He came to Brazil only after the end of the conflict.
In Brazil, the Imperial Family settled in the state of Rio de Janeiro and later in Paraná, where Prince Bertrand spent his childhood. He still lives in São Paulo Paulo.
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.
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". Titles and styles He has been styled as Prince and as His Imperial and Royal Highness throughout his life.
In Brazil, where the honorific "Dom" has disappeared from everyday use, he is regularly called "Dom Bertrand".
Membership
He is a Traditionalist Catholic and a member of Tradition, Family and Property.