Isabel, Duchess of Braganza

Isabel
Duchess of Braganza (more...)
Born (1966-11-22) 22 November 1966
Lisbon, Portuguese Republic
Spouse Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza (m. 1995)
Issue
details...
Afonso, Prince of Beira
Infanta Maria Francisca
Infante Dinis, Duke of Porto
Full name
Isabel Inês
House Braganza (by marriage)
Father Jorge de Herédia
Mother Raquel Leonor Pinheiro Curvelo
Religion Roman Catholic

D. Isabel, Princess Royal of Portugal, Duchess of Braganza (née Castro Curvelo de Herédia; born 22 November 1966), is a Portuguese businesswoman, noblewoman, and the wife of Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza, the current pretender to the defunct Portuguese throne. Born to descendants of Portuguese peerage (see: Portuguese nobility), Castro Curvelo de Heredia worked as an assets manager prior to her marriage. Since becoming the Duchess of Braganza, Isabel has left the professional world, devoted her attention to her family, and become patron to several Portuguese charities and non-profit foundations. She and the Duke have had three children together, thus securing the continuation of the House of Braganza.

Early life

Isabel Inês Castro Curvelo de Herédia was born on 22 November 1966, in Lisbon, to D. Jorge de Heredia, an architect, and Dª Raquel Leonor Pinheiro Curvelo, his wife. Since birth, she was entitled to the honorific styling of Dona (Lady), being a descendant of Francisco Correia de Herédia, 1st Viscount of Ribeira Brava, of Portuguese peerage (see:Portuguese nobility) and a famed republican, who was involved in the failed republican uprising of 28 January 1908, in the male lineage.

Castro Curvelo de Heredia lived between metropolitan Portugal and Portuguese Angola until 1975, when Angola was granted independence. Her family subsequently moved to São Paulo, Brazil. There, she studied at the Colégio São Luís, a Jesuit-run institution. In 1990, she obtained a degree in business administration from the Fundação Getúlio Vargas and returned to Portugal to a job in BMF Sociedade de Gestão de Patrimónios, S.A. She specialized as an asset manager.

Duchess of Braganza

On 13 May 1995 she married Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza, at Jerónimos Monastery. Present at the ceremony were representatives of various European royal and noble houses, President of the Republic Mário Soares, Prime Minister Aníbal Cavaco Silva, and President of the Assembly António Barbosa de Melo, among others.

Following her marriage and the birth of her first child, Afonso, Prince of Beira, the Duchess of Braganza resigned from her professional life and devoted herself to the management of her family and the patronage of various causes. Using her privileged position for the good of others, Isabel has become the patron to:

Titles, honours, and styles

Portuguese Royal Family

HRH The Duke of Braganza
HRH The Duchess of Braganza


HH The Duke of Viseu


HH The Duke of Coimbra

Titles and styles

Isabel's styling as Duchess of Braganza:
By the Grace of God, Isabel, Duchess of Braganza, Princess Royal of Portugal, Duchess of Guimarães, Marquise of Vila Viçosa, Countess of Ourém, Countess of Arraiolos, Countess of Neiva, Countess of Faria, Grand Mistress of the Order of Saint Isabel

Honours

National dynastic honours

Foreign honours[5]

Genealogy

Ancestry

Issue

Name Portrait Birth Notes
By Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza (22 November 1966 – present; married 13 May 1995)
Afonso, Prince of Beira 25 March 1996 16th Prince of Beira, 18th Duke of Barcelos; 1st in line of succession
Infanta Maria Francisca 3 March 1997 Infanta of Portugal; 3rd in line of succession
Infante Dinis, Duke of Porto 25 November 1999 4th Duke of Porto, Infante of Portugal; 2nd in line of succession

References

External links

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