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:

• Refúgio Aboim Ascensão - Faro: A private social solidarity institution which helps victims of physical abuse, negligence, and any other social injustice or disadvantage adapt socially.
• Ajuda ao Recém Nascido: An institution linked with the Alfredo da Costa Maternity, in Lisbon, which provides clothes, provisions, and other necessities children recently born to disadvantaged families.
• Trissomia 21: A private social non-profit association which sponsors and supports research and education for Down syndrome.
• Associação Portuguesa de Miastenia Grave e Doenças Neuro-Musculares: An association linked with Santa Maria Hospital, in Lisbon, which works for the improvement of patient care at the hospital.
• Ajuda de Berço: An institution which temporarily hosts children, from new-borns to three-year-olds, that are in situations where their parents cannot take care of them.
• Os Francisquinhos: A social solidarity association linked with São Francisco Xavier Hospital, in Lisbon, that collaborates with parents and friends of deformed children, children born with serious diseases, and children born with complications due to the toxic dependencies of their mothers.

Titles, honours, and styles

Main article: List of titles and honours of the Portuguese Crown

Titles and styles

• 22 November 1966 – 13 May 1995 Dona Isabel Inês de Castro Curvelo de Herédia
• 13 May 1995 – present Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Braganza, Princess Royal of Portugal

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

• House of Braganza: 9th Grand Mistress Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Isabel

Foreign honours

• Italy
  • Vatican: Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre
  • Castroan Royal Family of Two Sicilies: Dame Grand Cross of Justice of the Castroan-Two Sicilian Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George
  • Sovereign Military Order of Malta: Dame Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, 3rd First Class
• Montenegrin Royal Family: Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Prince Danilo I

Genealogy

Ancestry

Family of Isabel, Duchess of Braganza

16. Francisco Correia de Herédia, 1st Viscount of Ribeira Brava               8. Sebastião Sancho Gil de Borja de Macedo Meneses e Herédia                       17. Joana Gil de Borja de Macedo e Meneses               4. Sebastiao de Freitas Branco de Herédia                             18. Luis de Freitas Branco               9. Maria da Assumpção Garcia de Freitas Branco                       19. Ana Gertrudes Garcia de Freitas               2. Jorge de Herédia                                   20. Firmino Augusto Lopes Brotas Cardoso               10. José de Almedia Brotas Cardoso                       21. Maria da Glória Ferreira de Almeida               5. Maria Isabel da Glória Santiago de Sousa Botelho Brotas Cardoso                             22. Antonio Eduardo de Sousa Botelho Correia Guedes do Amaral de Frias Sarmento               11. Maria da Conceição Santiago de Sousa Botelho Correia Guedes do Amaral                       23. Maria Adriana Santiago Gouveia de Mattos               1. Isabel Inés de Castro Curvelo de Herédia                                         24. Mateus António Curvelo               12. Joâo Francisco Curvelo                       25. Raquel da Pena Fonseca               6. Leonel de Castro Curvelo                             26. José de Sampaio Castro               13. Leonor Adelaide Monteiro de Castro                       27. Leonor Monteiro               3. Raquel Leonor Pinheiro de Castro Curvelo                                   28. Manuel António Pinheiro               14. Joaquim Manuel Fernandes Carrilho Pinheiro                       29. Beatriz de Jesus Fernandes Carrilho               7. Beatriz da Graça Fernandes Pinheiro                             30. D. Carlos Tasso de Lixa-Parma               15. D. Joana de Lixa-Parma                       31. Maximiana Luisa de Simas Madeira Barbas

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

External links

• Website of the Foundation of the House of Braganza