House of Braganza Manuel II named as his heir Duarte Nuno of Braganza, grandson of Miguel. Duarte Nuno, now Duke of Braganza, remained the Braganza pretender until his death in 1976. In 1942, he married a great-granddaughter of Emperor Pedro II of Brazil, uniting the two lines of the House. In 1950 Portugal repealed the law of exile against the Braganzas, and D. Duarte Nuno moved to the country in 1952. Duarte Nuno was succeeded as pretender by his son, Duarte Pio of Braganza (born 1945). Duarte Pio served in the Portuguese Armed Forces and took the customary oath of allegiance to the
Prince Rafael of Orléans-Braganza political activity in order to encourage restoration of the constitutional monarchy he still believes Brazil should consider as an alternative to its presidential regimes. Prince Rafael of Orléans-Braganza Prince Rafael of Orléans-Braganza ("Rafael Antonio Maria José Francisco Miguel Gabriel Gonzaga de Orléans e Bragança e Ligne"; 26 April 1986) is a member of the former Imperial House of Brazil, which reigned as emperors until 1889. As the younger but only surviving son of Prince Antônio of Orléans-Braganza, he is expected to eventually take up the claim to Brazil's defunct throne. Born in Rio de Janeiro, Rafael Antônio lives in the