Isabel de Herédia
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Isabel, Duchess of Braganza (née Isabel Inês de Castro Curvello de Herédia; born 22 November 1966) is a Portuguese noblewoman and wife of Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza, the current pretender to the defunct Portuguese throne.
Born into the family of an old Portuguese nobility, Isabel worked as an assets manager before to her marriage. Since marrying Duarte Pio, Isabel has ceased to have paid employment and become patron to several Portuguese charities and non-profit foundations. She and her husband have had three children together, securing the continuation of the House of Braganza.
Family
Isabel Inês de Castro Curvello de Herédia was born on 22 November 1966, in Lisbon, to Dom Jorge de Herédia (b. 1934), an architect, and his wife, Dona Raquel Leonor Pinheiro de Castro Curvello (b. 1935).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
She is a descendant in the male lineage of Francisco Correia de Herédia, 1st Viscount of Ribeira Brava<ref name=Nobreza>Template:In lang "Nobreza de Portugal e do Brasil", Direcção de Afonso Eduardo Martins Zúquete, Editorial Enciclopédia, 2.ª Edição, Lisboa, 1989, Volume Terceiro, p. 214</ref> (a Vitalício title,<ref name=Nobreza/> meaning Life peerage) and his wife Dona Joana Gil de Borja de Macedo e Meneses (1851-1925). Although Francisco was a member of the Portuguese nobility, he was a famed republican, who was involved in the failed republican uprising of 28 January 1908.
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Isabel de Herédia is the first cousin of Manuel Caldeira Cabral, former Portuguese Minister of Economy.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Early life
Template:BLP unsourced section Isabel lived between metropolitan Portugal and Portuguese Angola until 1975, when Angola was granted independence. Her family subsequently moved to São Paulo, Brazil. There, she studied at the Colégio São Luís, a Jesuit-run institution. In 1990, she obtained a degree in business administration from the Fundação Getúlio Vargas and returned to Portugal to a job in BMF — Sociedade de Gestão de Patrimónios, S.A. She worked in investment management.
Personal life
On 13 May 1995 she married Duarte Pio de Bragança, at Jerónimos Monastery. Present at the ceremony were representatives of various European royal and noble houses: Prince Philippe, Duke of Brabant, Prince Henri, Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg and Infanta Margarita, Duchess of Soria, among others. The principal Portuguese political figures, including the President of the Republic Mário Soares, Prime Minister Aníbal Cavaco Silva and President of the Assembly António Barbosa de Melo, were also present.
Following her marriage and the birth of her first child, Afonso, Isabel resigned from her professional life and devoted herself to the management of her family, the family's assets and the patronage of various causes.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Honours
National honours
- Template:Flagicon House of Braganza: File:PRT Ordem de Nossa Senhora da Conceicao de Vila Vicosa Cavaleiro ribbon.svg Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa
- Template:Flagicon House of Braganza: File:Ordine di Santa Isabella.png Grand Mistress Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Saint Isabel<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>http://www.realcasadiborbone.it/wp-content/uploads/4.S.A.R._la_Duchessa_di_Castro_dopo_aver_ricevuto_lOrdine_di_Santa_Isabel_con_le-_figlie_le_LL.AA_.RR_._Maria_Carolina_Duchessa_di_Palermo-e_Maria_Chiara_Duchessa_di_Capri_e_le_LL.AA_.RR_._il_Principe_di_Beira_e_il_Duca_di_Porto.jpg Template:Bare URL image</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Foreign honours
- Template:Flagicon Montenegrin Royal Family: File:ME Order of Danilo I Knight Grand Cross BAR.svg Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Prince Danilo I
- Template:Flag File:SMOM-gcs.svg Dame Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion of the Order of Saint John
- Template:Flagicon Two Sicilian Royal Family: File:ESP Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George Justicia BAR.svg Dame Grand Cross of Justice of the Royal Order of Saint George<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Genealogy
Ancestry
Issue
Duarte Pio and Isabel of Heredia have three children:
| Name | Birth | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Afonso, Prince of Beira | 25 March 1996 | 16th Prince of Beira, 18th Duke of Barcelos; 2nd in line in the succession |
| Maria Francisca, Duchess of Coimbra | 3 March 1997 | 5th Duchess of Coimbra, Infanta of Portugal; 4th in line in the succession |
| Dinis, Duke of Porto | 25 November 1999 | 4th Duke of Porto, Infante of Portugal; 3rd in line in the succession |