Maria Francisca of Braganza (born 3 March 1997), is the second child and only daughter of the

pretender A pretender is someone who claims to be the rightful ruler of a country although not recognized as such by the current government. The term may often be used to either refer to a descendant of a deposed monarchy or a claim that is not legitimat ...

to the defunct Portuguese throne Duarte Pio,

Duke of Braganza The title Duke of Braganza () in the House of Braganza is one of the most important titles in the peerage of Portugal. Starting in 1640, when the House of Braganza acceded to the throne of Portugal, the male heir of the Portuguese Crown were ...

and Isabel de Herédia. She is a claimant to the courtesy titles of

Infanta of Portugal Infante of Portugal ( Portuguese: ''Infante de Portugal''; f. Infanta), was the royal title of the Kingdom of Portugal, granted to the sons or daughters of the King and Princes of Portugal who were not the heir to the throne. It was also used to ...

and Duchess of Coimbra.

Biography

Maria Francisca is the daughter of Duarte Pio and Isabel de Herédia, the couple's second child. She was baptised in

Vila Viçosa Vila Viçosa () is a town and a municipality in the Évora (district), District of Évora, Alentejo in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 8,319, in an area of 194.86 km². The municipal holiday is August 16. Parishes Administratively, th ...

by the

Archbishop of Évora In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdioc ...

, Maurílio de Gouveia, on 31 May 1997, and her godparents were Princess Marie of Liechtenstein, her father's maternal cousin, and Henrique Nuno de Bragança,

Duke of Coimbra Duke of Coimbra () was an aristocratic Portuguese title with the level of royal dukedom, that is, associated with the Portuguese royal house, created in 1415, by King John I of Portugal to his 2nd male son, Infante Pedro. Pedro was regent o ...

, her father's brother. She graduated in Social and Cultural Communications from the

Catholic University of Portugal The Catholic University of Portugal ( Portuguese: ''Universidade Católica Portuguesa'', pronounced nivɨɾsiˈðad(ɨ) kɐˈtɔlikɐ puɾtuˈɣezɐ, also referred to as Católica or UCP for short, is a concordat university (non-state-run unive ...

. She lives in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, together with her husband.

Public role

She presided over the award ceremony for the Marquês de

Rio Maior Rio Maior () is a municipality in the Santarém District in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 21,192, in an area of 272.76 km². The present mayor is Isaura Morais of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), the first woman to be elected mayor ...

Agriculture 2023 prize, set up by the Royal

Ribatejo The Ribatejo () is the most central of the traditional provinces of Portugal, with no coastline or border with Spain. The region is crossed by the Tagus river (''Ribatejo'' translates to "upper Tagus", or more precisely, "up the Tagus" relative ...

Association, on 24 November. In her speech, Maria Francisca congratulated the

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer ...

s and their capacity for resilience and innovation. The Infanta Dona Maria Francisca Prize (''Prémio Infanta Dona Maria Francisca''), whose patron is Maria Francisca, is an annual prize aimed at highlighting works in painting and sculpture by master's degree students. The result of a partnership between Soares dos Reis National Museum, ''Associação Real Social Cultura Desporto'', School of Fine Arts of

University of Porto The University of Porto (''Universidade do Porto'') is a Portuguese public research university located in Porto, and founded on 22 March 1911. It is the second largest Portuguese university by number of enrolled students, after the University ...

and Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art, the prize is awarded annually to two winners, one for painting and one for sculpture. Maria Francisca was in charge of organising the yearly ''Jantar dos Conjurados'' in 2023. The event took place on 30 November at the National Museum of Natural History and supported Banco do Bebé. The event, which took place a month after Maria Francisca's

wedding A wedding is a ceremony in which two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnicity, ethnicities, Race (human categorization), races, religions, Religious denomination, denominations, Cou ...

to Duarte Martins, featured a

charity auction Charity auctions are a way of fundraising, raising funds for charitable organization, charities. These events are typically hosted in hotels or ballrooms, and dinner or cocktails may be served to guests. Charity auctions aimed at business leaders ...

of objects, including Duarte Pio's

panama hat An Ecuadorian hat, also known as a Panama hat, a Jipijapa hat, or a toquilla straw hat, is a traditional brimmed straw hat of Ecuadorian origin. Traditionally, hats were made from the plaited leaves of the '' Carludovica palmata'' plant, k ...

, which he had worn at his daughter's

Marriage

On 7 October 2023, Maria Francisca married Duarte de Sousa Araújo Martins, a Lisbon-based lawyer. The proposal took place in

East Timor Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the coastal exclave of Oecusse in the island's northwest, and ...

and the engagement was announced by Duarte Pio de Bragança on 15 December 2022. The wedding took place in the Basilica of Mafra, presided over by

Manuel Clemente Manuel José Macário do Nascimento Clemente, GCC (; born 16 July 1948), officially Manuel III, is a Portuguese prelate of the Catholic Church. He was the Metropolitan Patriarch of Lisbon from 2013 to 2023 and a cardinal since 14 February 201 ...

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

- Patriarch Emeritus of Lisbon, in the presence of Cardinal Américo Aguiar and several Portuguese

bishops A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

. The wedding and the reception that followed were broadcast live on

TVI TVI may refer to: *RTL-TVI, a French-language television station in Belgium *TVi (channel), a Ukrainian TV-channel *TVi, former name of TV Okey, a Malaysian TV-network * Tamil Vision International, a Tamil language television channel in Toronto, C ...

. Maria Francisca wore, among other jewellery, Queen Amélia's tiara, inherited by her father Duarte Pio de Bragança, and which had been worn by her mother, Isabel de Herédia, at their wedding. The

Basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

and the

Palace of Mafra The Palace of Mafra (), also known as the Palace-Convent of Mafra and the Royal Building of Mafra (), is a monumental Baroque and Neoclassical palace-monastery located in Mafra, Portugal, some 28 kilometres from Lisbon. Construction began in 1 ...

were closed to the public for the previous eight days due to the wedding preparations. At the end of the wedding, the

Apostolic blessing The apostolic blessing or papal blessing is a blessing imparted by the pope, either directly or by delegation through others. Bishops are empowered to grant it three times a year and any priest can do so for the dying. The apostolic blessing is n ...

bestowed upon the bride and groom by

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

was read out. Maria Francisca then went to offer the bridal bouquet to the image of

Our Lady of Solitude Our Lady of Solitude (; ) is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus and a special form of Marian devotion practised in Spanish-speaking countries to commemorate the solitude of Mary on Holy Saturday. Variant names include ''Nuestra Señora de la Sol ...

in the main altar of the

, which had recently received the

canonical coronation A canonical coronation () is a pious institutional act of the pope, duly expressed in a formal decree of a papal bull, in which the pope bestows the pontifical right to impose an ornamental crown, a diadem or an aureola, aureole to an image of ...

, to the sound of

Cante Alentejano Cante Alentejano is a Portuguese music genre based on vocal music without instrumentation from the Alentejo region. It was inscribed in 2014 in UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, one of two Portuguese ...

. The wedding was attended by 1,200 guests. Among the guests were

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa Marcelo Nuno Duarte Rebelo de Sousa (; born 12 December 1948) is a Portuguese politician and academic who is the president of Portugal since 2016. He is a member of the Social Democratic Party, though he suspended his party membership for the ...

President of Portugal The president of Portugal, officially the president of the Portuguese Republic (, ), is the head of state and highest office of Portugal. The powers, functions and duties of prior presidential offices, and their relation with the prime minister ...

, and various representatives of the Royal Families of Europe and

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. Among the reigning families were members of the Royal House of Belgium, the Grand Ducal House of Luxembourg and the Princely House of Liechtenstein, who are descendants of King Miguel I. Also present was Fra' John Dunlap, 81st Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Among the non-reigning Imperial or Royal Families were the Imperial House of Brazil, the Royal House of France, the

Imperial House of Russia The House of Romanov (also transliterated as Romanoff; , ) was the reigning imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917. They achieved prominence after Anastasia Romanovna married Ivan the Terrible, the first crowned tsar of all Russia. Nich ...

, the Imperial House of Austria and the Royal House of Bulgaria. Also in attendance were several representatives from Portuguese politics, such as former

Prime Ministers A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but rat ...

Durão Barroso,

Pedro Santana Lopes Pedro Miguel de Santana Lopes (; born 29 June 1956) is a Portuguese lawyer and politician, who is the current mayor of Figueira da Foz. He most notably served as prime minister of Portugal from 2004 to 2005. Background and early life Ped ...

and

Pedro Passos Coelho Pedro Manuel Mamede Passos Coelho (; born 24 July 1964) is a Portuguese people, Portuguese politician and university guest lecturer who was the List of prime ministers of Portugal, 117th prime minister of Portugal, in office from 2011 to 201 ...

Miguel Albuquerque Miguel Filipe Machado de Albuquerque (born 4 May 1961) is a Portugal, Portuguese Monarchism, monarchist politician of the Social Democratic Party (Portugal), Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the current Presidents of the Regional Government of M ...

, President of Madeira,

Carlos Moedas Carlos Manuel Félix Moedas (born 10 August 1970) is a Portuguese civil engineer, economist and politician of the Social Democratic Party (Portugal), Social Democratic Party (PSD), who is the current Mayor of Lisbon. From 2014 until 2019, Moeda ...

Mayor of Lisbon This is a list of mayors of Lisbon (, literally: "President of the Municipal Chamber of Lisbon", and also , literally: "President of the Municipality of Lisbon"), the capital city of Portugal, and also the most populated. This office is considere ...

Paulo Portas Paulo de Sacadura Cabral Portas (born 12 September 1962, ) is a Portuguese media and political figure, who has, since the 1990s, been one of Portugal's leading conservative politicians. He was the leader of one of Portugal's right-wing parties, ...

, former

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...

, among others. After the wedding, which took place in the afternoon, a reception was held in the cloisters of the

. Two wedding cakes were prepared, one for the guests inside the

Palace A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...

and the other for the public in the yard in front of

Mafra Palace The Palace of Mafra (), also known as the Palace-Convent of Mafra and the Royal Building of Mafra (), is a monumental Baroque and Neoclassical palace-monastery located in Mafra, Portugal, some 28 kilometres from Lisbon. Construction began in 17 ...

. In the evening, dinner was held in

Sintra Sintra (, ), officially the Town of Sintra (), is a town and municipality in the Greater Lisbon region of Portugal, located on the Portuguese Riviera. The population of the municipality in 2021 was 385,654, in an area of . Sintra is one of the ...

, at the bride's parents' estate.

Claimed titles

As well as being a claimant to the title of

, she is also a claimant to the title of Duchess of Coimbra. In 2018, the year she turned 21, she was honoured with the title of Duchess of Coimbra by her father, Duarte Pio, a title previously held by her late uncle, Henrique Nuno de Bragança, who died in 2017. Maria Francisca received this title at a ceremony held at the Church of Rainha Santa in

Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ), officially the City of Coimbra (), is a city and a concelho, municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2021 census was 140,796, in an area of . The fourth-largest agglomerated urban area in Po ...

, which was attended by family and friends of the family. This would make Maria Francisca the 5th Duchess of Coimbra, if

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

was a

constitutional monarchy Constitutional monarchy, also known as limited monarchy, parliamentary monarchy or democratic monarchy, is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in making decisions. ...

Honours

Dame of

Order of Saint Isabel The Order of Queen Saint Isabel () is a Roman Catholic dynastic order of which the Grand Mistress is the Duchess of Braganza. History King John VI of Portugal created the order on 4 November 1801 in honour of Queen Saint Isabel, consort of Po ...

Notes

References

{{Portuguese infantas Portuguese monarchists Portuguese Roman Catholics House of Braganza Catholic University of Portugal alumni 1997 births Living people