Just a few days after the election results were announced in Brazil - with the re-election of the octogenarian Lula da Silva for a further term as President of the South American giant - comes the long-awaited news of the wedding date for the man regarded as the great white hope for Brazilian monarchists, of whom there are indeed some. Prince Rafael of Orléans and Braganza (aged 40), the current heir to the dynastic rights of the Imperial House, is to marry the Italian aristocrat Margherita delle Piane as early as 28 November, following a romance that had never been officially acknowledged by the institution. The wedding will take place in Florence, the bride's home town.
However, what initially seems like happy news could plunge the Brazilian royal family into a deep crisis, as if nothing changes in the few weeks left before the bells ring, Prince Rafael will lose his dynastic rights and be removed from the line of succession.
The Imperial House of Brazil continues to be governed in the 21st century by the principle that requires its members to marry people of royal blood to maintain their status, according to Chapter IV of the 1824 Constitution. It is an archaic tradition that is no longer upheld by the reigning dynasties of almost any country in the world, nor by most royal families recognized as heirs to the titles of extinct crowns. But in Brazil, it is an unmovable principle of the House of Orleans-Braganza. The current head of the Imperial House of Brazil, Prince Bertrand (85 years old), single and childless, uncle of Rafael, made it clear in July, after several weeks of uncertainty, that a morganatic marriage (i.e., unequal) would result in exclusion from the line of succession. He did not need to mention his nephew. Everyone understood who he was referring to.
Surely Prince Rafael himself expected this. He explained a few years ago in an interview with the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that a change regarding succession "would require the consent of the entire family to modify our dynastic rules." Therefore, in recent years, Rafael, who spends much of his time on his business in London, had become a rare bird in international royalty, a prince desperately seeking a princess to become the head of an extinct crown. But whether he had grown tired of searching, fed up with the stale monarchy, or because his passion for Margherita is unstoppable, the now forty-something has prioritized his personal desires over the heavy burdens imposed by the institution.
The bride belongs to an Italian noble lineage but not to a royal house. It is known that she was born in Genoa on April 7, 1989, daughter of the noble Giuseppe delle Piane and the noble Stefania of the Marquises d'Afflitto, who passed away in 2012. The Delle Piane family is an ancient lineage of Genoese civic nobility, originating from the Polcevera valley, with a history dating back to the 14th century. On her maternal side, a great-grandfather of Margherita, Marquis Francesco d'Afflitto (1861-1934), was deputy commander general of the Carabinieri and a prominent figure in the Sovereign Order of Malta.
Graduated in Art History from the University of Florence, where the wedding will take place, it is known that she recently moved to Milan from London, where she works as a senior executive at a prestigious events company. The British capital has also been the epicenter of Prince Rafael's business and professional endeavors for years.
"The marriage of His Imperial and Royal Highness the Imperial Prince of Brazil, Don Rafael de Orleans and Braganza, with the Noble Lady Margherita delle Piane, will take place on November 28 in Florence, Italy. Don Rafael and Lady Margherita met in Milan, Italy, and announced their engagement to their closest family and friends in April. Following the tradition of the Brazilian Imperial Family, the marriage will be celebrated in the bride's country," reads the statement now shared by our protagonist through social media, confirming that there has been no turning back in his intention to join the countess.
Don Bertrand, as we mentioned, has no children. His heir was Rafael's father, Antonio de Orleans Braganza, but he died in November 2024, at the age of 74. This made our protagonist the first in the line of succession. This came about due to another terrible twist of fate. Because Rafael was not the eldest son of Don Antonio - a distant cousin of King Juan Carlos I; both shared the same great-grandparents, Alfonso and Maria Antonia of Bourbon-Two Sicilies - and Princess Cristina de Ligne, related to the grand dukes of Luxembourg and the Belgian royal family. The firstborn was Prince Pedro Luis. But he died young in 2009 in the tragic accident involving Air France flight 447.
If Rafael is ultimately excluded, the next in line would be his sister Princess Maria Gabriela (37 years old), who remains single. Because another sister, Amelia, renounced for herself and her descendants to her dynastic rights in 2014 when she married the British Alexander James Spearman.