HI & RH Prince Rafael de Orléans e Bragança, the Imperial Prince of Brazil, is engaged to Margherita delle Piane. The Prince is second in line to the defunct Brazilian throne, after his uncle, H& RH Prince Dom Bertrand of Orléans-Braganca. He was born in Petropolis, Brazil, on April 24, 1986, as the third child and second son of the late HI & RH Prince Antonio Joao Maria Jose Jorge Miguel Gabriel Rafael Gonzaga of Orleans and Braganca and HH Princess Christine Marie Elisabeth de Ligne.
The couple has been together for about four years.
Margherita delle Piane is the daughter of Giuseppe delle Piane and his late wife , Donna Stefania dei Marchesi d'Afflitto. She was born in Genoa on April 6, 1988.
The engagement announcement is not official as the family is waiting for Dom Bertrand to issue a statement. He is currently in the United States. It is understood that the lack of an official announcement is due to Margherita's status. She is a descendant of Italian nobility. Her ancestry, however, would not qualify for the Brazilian royal family's position on marriage.
The Brazilian monarchy ended on November 15, 1889, following a military coup. Emperor Pedro II died in 1891 and was succeeded by his daughter, Isabel, as head of the Brazilian royal family.
In 1864, Princess Isabel (1846-1921) married HRH Prince Gaston of Orléans, Count of Eu. They had three sons, Pedro de Alcântara, Luis, and Antonio. Pedro fell in love with a Bohemian countess
Elisabeth Maria Adelheid Dobrženský von Dobrženitz, and they married in 1908, after waiting for his parents' consent.
Pedro renounced his rights (and his heirs) to the succession because Elisabeth was not of royal birth. His younger brother, Dom Luis, also married in 1908 to HRH Princess Maria di Grazia of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, a dynastic union. Luis died in 1920, a year before his mother. Following Isabel's death, Luis' eldest son, Prince Pedro-Henrique, succeeded as head of the Vassouras branch of the former Imperial House. The senior branch, Petropolis, is considered non-dynastic because of Pedro Henrique's marriage.
Dom Rafael moved up the line of succession in May 2009, when his older brother, Pedro Luiz, 29, was among the passengers who were on the Air France plane bound for Paris that crashed into the Atlantic.
In a 2019 interview with Brazilian newspaper O Tempo, Dom Rafael said: “Tradition dictates that it be a dynastic marriage (between members of dynasties who have the same status). He added, “People have a natural affinity when they share the same values, so what I hope is to find someone who completes me and makes me happy. If it happens, great.”
Fast forward seven years, and Dom Rafael has found his match with Margherita, although she is not royal.
The couple lives in London, where Dom Rafael is the Chief Operating Officer and co-founder of Starman AI, and Margharita is an event planner with Lanza & Baucina. She also owns Fattoria la Scheggia, which she inherited from her maternal grandparents.
Dom Bertrand, 85, is an ultra-conservative Roman Catholic who supports TFP- Tradition, Family, Property. Neither he nor his elder late brother, Dom Luis, married, and, with the exception of the late Dom Antonio, the other siblings have not entered into equal marriages. The line of succession is down to five people: Dom Bertrand, Dom Rafael, Dona Maria Gabriela (Rafael's sister), Eleonora, Princess of Ligne (Bertrand's sister), and her son, Henri, Hereditary Prince of Ligne.
Rafael's mother, Princess Christine, is the sister of Eleonora's husband, Michel, 14th Prince of Ligne, who is the son of the late HRH Princess Alix of Luxembourg. Christine and Michel are first cousins of Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg.
Margherita's brother, Guy delle Piane, is married to Princess Xenia of Croy, the daughter of the Duke of Croy, whose maternal grandmother was Princess Gabriele of Croy, daughter of Princess Antonia of Luxembourg, younger sister of Grand Duchess Charlotte, who was Princess Alix's mother.
If Dom Bertrand does not approve of the marriage, Rafael will be required to renounce his rights in favor of his younger sister, Maria Gabriela, 36, who is unmarried.
