The Duke of Oporto, the younger brother of the slain King Carlos of Portugal, is now the heir apparent to Portugal's throne, according to the Marquise de Fontenoy. His nephew, King Manoel, is young, having just turned 18, and "was looked upon as a mere schoolboy" until the assassination of the king and his eldest son, the Crown Prince. The duke is now seen as "the most important man in the kingdom."
Following his brother's death, the duke of Oporto "assumed charge of everything," and it is understood that he is the one responsible for "the reversal of the policy of the crown" and "for the dismissal of Franco from the premiership."
The duke's "one idea" is to preserve the throne for his young nephew, but "it remains to be seen," if he will be successful.
Dom Afonso is an unmarried 43-year-old who has an aversion to being king and to marriage. However, he remains the only male heir to the throne. There is another line, the Miguelists, headed by Dom Miguel, the Duke of Braganza, who lives in exile. Dom Miguel is the only son and heir of the late ex-King Miguel, who in 1833 was forced off his throne and into exile. He and his descendants are banned "forever" from Portugal. The Duke of Braganza is "a stranger in Portugal."
He was born in Austria, and is considered an Austria. Dom Miguel's mother, who is now a Benedictine nun, is not a "lady of sovereign rank, but of the noble house of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg. His two eldest sons have "conducted themselves in such a fashion as to lead to their being deprived of the commissions" they held in the Austrian and Saxon armies. Dom Miguel's third son is only a year old.
Other possible heirs to the Portuguese throne include the sons of the former Crown Princess of Brazil, even though their father is a member of the House of Orleans. Their grandfather was the late King Pedro II of Brazil.
The two Brazilian princes are also "entire strangers to Portugal, where they have no following whatsoever."
It is said that the Duke of Oporto has remained unmarried because of a "disappointment in love." He was once engaged to Archduchess Marie Valerie, the youngest daughter of Emperor Franz Joseph. The marriage would have been a "suitable one in every respect." The Duke, devoted to his mother, has lived a life free from scandal. He is also "good-looking and goodhearted."
The engagement was broken off at "the last minute" due to the influence of Archduchess Maria Theresa, the sister of Dom Miguel. She "bitterly resented" the idea that her niece, Marie Valerie, marrying a "prince of a house which condemned her brother and her sisters to exile from Portugal. Maria Theresa's influence, which was supported by the Roman Catholic church, prevailed, and the engagement was broken.
The Duke of Oporto was "humiliated" and "profoundly distressed" as he was "greatly attached to Marie Valerie." Thus, the duke has since refused to "consider matrimony, and has "turned a deaf ear to all suggestions of marriage, either for love or for dynastic reasons." Archduchess Marie Valerie married her cousin, Archduke Franz Salvator.
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