Luis Maria Augusto Pinto de Soveral, Marquês de Soveral (28 May 1851 – 5 October 1922) was a Portuguese diplomat. The Kaiser nicknamed him "the Blue Monkey". He was born at

São João da Pesqueira São João da Pesqueira () is a municipality and municipal seat in the Portuguese district of Viseu. The population of the municipality in 2011 was approximately 7,874 inhabitants, in an area that extends . The present mayor is Manuel Cordeiro, ele ...

, son of Eduardo Pinto de Soveral, 1st Viscount of São Luís, and his wife Maria da Piedade Paes de Sande e Castro.Luis Maria Augusto Pinto de Soveral, 1º marquês de Soveral
at geneall.net. Accessed 4 March 2012 Joining the diplomatic service, he was an attaché and Secretary of Legation at Vienna, Berlin, and Madrid. He was First Secretary at the London Embassy in 1885 and advanced to the rank of Minister in 1891. He was a Counsellor of State, and served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1895 to 1897.‘DE SOVERAL’, '' Who Was Who'', A & C Black, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 200
accessed 4 March 2012
/ref> In 1897 he was made an Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the British

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

, and later that year was appointed Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the

Court of St James's The Court of St James's is the royal court for the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. All ambassadors to the United Kingdom are formally received by the court. All ambassadors from the United Kingdom are formally accredited from the court – & ...

. Soveral was a friend of the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) and a prominent member of the " Marlborough House set", Jane Ridley, ‘Marlborough House set (act. 1870s–1901)’, '' Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press
accessed 4 March 2012
/ref> the group of aristocratic and other friends of Edward when Prince of Wales who were regarded as leading fashionable society, at a time when the royal court of Queen Victoria was sober and domestic in tone. He was

Ambassador Extraordinary An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

for Edward VII's coronation and was made an Honorary Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order in 1902. He was Ambassador Extraordinary to the

Second Hague Conference The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 are a series of international treaties and declarations negotiated at two international peace conferences at The Hague in the Netherlands. Along with the Geneva Conventions, the Hague Conventions were amon ...

in 1907. His tenure as Portuguese Minister in London ended in 1910, when the Revolution of 5 October overthrew the Portuguese monarchy. Soveral was created a

Marquis A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman wi ...

by the King of Portugal in 1900, and was a Grand Cross of the Order of the Tower and Sword. He died at Paris. On his death, his title became extinct. He has been subject of a biography by

Paulo Lowndes Marques Paulo Henrique Lowndes Marques (21 August 1941-1 January 2011) was a Portuguese politician, lawyer, author, historian and conservationist. He was a founder member of the CDS – People's Party and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in Portuga ...

, entitled ''O Marquês de Soveral, Seu Tempo e Seu Modo'' (''The Marquis of Soveral: his time and his manner'').

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soveral, Luis Pinto de 1851 births 1922 deaths Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Recipients of the Order of the Tower and Sword Portugal–United Kingdom relations Portuguese nobility People from Viseu District