Portuguese succession agreed

May 17, 1930


Supporters of King Manoel II of Portugal and Prince Duarte Nuno, the 23-year-old scion of the other branch of Braganza, have "agreed to bury the hatchet in order to build a monarchist dam against the rising tide of republican socialism," according to the AP.
The reconciliation has come about because of King Manoel's "lukewarm enthusiasm" for the monarchist cause and "his disinclination to take a leading a part" in a restoration movement.
The former king, who lives at Fulwell Palace, in London, with his wife, Augusta Victoria, is "happy among his books," and he has rejected the pleas of his supporters to lead revolts against the republican regime in Portugal.
He inherited the London residence from his uncle, the Duke of Orléans.
Unlike the "literary-minded sovereign," Prince Duarte Nuno, who was educated in Austria, "is consumed with ambition to brighten the tarnished escutcheon of his ancestors," who ruled Portugal for nearly 500 years.
The prince, who was born at Seebenstein, Lower Austria, is a "handsome youth. He is the heir of the legitimist branch of the Braganza family, which settled in Australia, after Duarte's grandfather, Miguel, was forced to leave Portugal.
Neither Manoel nor Duarte are allowed to live in Portugal. King Manoel, the last male member of the Braganza-Sax-Coburg and Gotha line, has no children Many of his supporters have been pressing him to acknowledge Duarte Nino as his successor for "the preservation of the dynasty.