The Vassouras branch claims the throne in opposition to the Petrópolis branch of the Orléans-Braganzas, headed by Pedro Carlos Orléans-Braganza. Although Luiz and Pedro Carlos respectively were and are great-grandchildren of Princess Isabel (daughter of Emperor Pedro II), of the House of Braganza, they disputed leadership over the Brazilian Imperial Family due to a dynastic dispute concerning their fathers, who were cousins. Luiz actively claimed the defunct throne and participated in matters concerning Brazil's imperial past.
On 1981, he succeeded Prince Pedro Henrique as the claimant to the Brazilian throne in the Vassouras branch. According to Brazilian legitimist claims, he was de jure Emperor of Brazil ("Dom Luiz I of Brazil").[5]
He and two of his younger brothers, Prince Bertrand and Prince Antônio, engaged in monarchist proselytism in Brazil. They played major roles during the campaign for the 1993 plebiscite, which represented the first official opportunity for a return of the monarchy to Brazil since the Proclamation of the Republic in 1889. In it, the people were asked to choose which form of government, presidential or parliamentary, and which form of state organization, republic or constitutional monarchy, Brazil should have. The monarchist cause was not successful, receiving 13.2% of the vote against 66% for the republic.[6]
Dom Luiz resided in a house with "no luxury nor splendor" in Higienópolis, a borough of São Paulo, Brazil.[7]
Death
Prince Luiz died in São Paulo on July 14, 2022 having been hospitalized for a month.[8] On July 15, 2022, the President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro and the Minister of Foreign Affairs signed a decree declaring a national day of official mourning for the death of Luiz.[9][10]
^CUNHA, Dionatan da Silveira (2011) (in Portuguese). Príncipe D. Luiz de Orleans e Bragança: 30 Anos de ascensão a Chefia da Casa Imperial do Brasil. Causa ImperialArchived 5 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine.
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