Princess Maria de la Esperanza Amalia Raniera Maria Rosario Luisa Gonzaga of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (14 June 1914, Madrid

Madrid

Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

, Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 – 8 August 2005, Villamanrique de la Condesa

Villamanrique de la Condesa

Villamanrique de la Condesa is a city located in the province of Seville, Spain.-Twin towns: Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, France...

, Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

) was the youngest daughter of Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies

Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies

Don Carlos, Prince of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Infante of Spain was the son of Prince Alfonso of the Two...

 and his wife Princess Louise of Orléans

Princess Louise of Orléans

Louise d'Orléans was a Princess of the Two-Sicilies and maternal grandmother of King Juan Carlos I of Spain....

. Maria Esperanza was titular Empress of Brazil through her husband Prince Pedro Gastão of Orléans-Braganza

Prince Pedro Gastão of Orléans-Braganza

Prince Pedro Gastão of Orléans-Braganza was one of two claimants to the Brazilian throne and head of the Petrópolis branch of the Brazilian Imperial House.-Biography:Prince Pedro Gastão was the son of Prince Pedro de Alcântara...

, who was one of two claimants to the Brazilian throne as titular

Pretender

A pretender is one who claims entitlement to an unavailable position of honour or rank. Most often it refers to a former monarch, or descendant thereof, whose throne is occupied or claimed by a rival, or has been abolished....

 Emperor of Brazil, and head of the Petrópolis

Petrópolis

Petrópolis , also known as The Imperial City of Brazil, is a town in the state of Rio de Janeiro, about 65 km from the city of Rio de Janeiro....

 branch of the Brazilian Imperial House. Maria Esperanza was also an aunt of Juan Carlos I of Spain

Juan Carlos I of Spain

Juan Carlos I |Italy]]) is the reigning King of Spain.On 22 November 1975, two days after the death of General Francisco Franco, Juan Carlos was designated king according to the law of succession promulgated by Franco. Spain had no monarch for 38 years in 1969 when Franco named Juan Carlos as the...

, son of her sister Princess Maria Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies.

Marriage and issue

Maria Esperanza married Prince Pedro Gastão of Orléans-Braganza

Prince Pedro Gastão of Orléans-Braganza

Prince Pedro Gastão of Orléans-Braganza was one of two claimants to the Brazilian throne and head of the Petrópolis branch of the Brazilian Imperial House.-Biography:Prince Pedro Gastão was the son of Prince Pedro de Alcântara...

, son of Prince Pedro de Alcântara of Orléans-Braganza

Prince Pedro de Alcantara of Orléans-Braganza

Pedro de Alcântara of Orléans and Braganza, Prince of Grão Para was the first born son of Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil and her husband Gaston, comte d'Eu and, as such, the heir after her, to the throne of his grandfather, Emperor Pedro II of Brazil, until the empire's abolition...

 and his wife Countess Elisabeth Dobržensky de Dobrženicz

Countess Elisabeth Dobržensky de Dobrženicz

Countess Elisabeth Maria Dobržensky de Dobrženicz was the daughter of Johann Wenzel Count Dobrzensky of Dobrzenicz and his wife, Elisabeth Countess Kottulinsky, Baroness of Kottulin and Krzižkowitz ....

, on 18 December 1944 in Seville

Seville

Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...

, Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

. Maria Esperanza and Pedro de Alcântara had six children:

• Prince Pedro Carlos of Orléans-Braganza
  Prince Pedro Carlos of Orléans-Braganza
  Prince Pedro Carlos of Orléans-Braganza is one of two claimants to the defunct Brazilian throne, and head of the Petrópolis branch of the Brazilian Imperial House.-Life:...
  
   (born 31 October 1945), succeeded to his father's claim as Emperor on 26 December 2007.
• Princess Maria da Gloria of Orléans-Braganza (born 13 December 1946), former Crown Princess of Yugoslavia.
• Prince Afonso Duarte of Orléans-Braganza (born 25 April 1948)
• Prince Manuel Álvaro of Orléans-Braganza (born 17 June 1949)
• Princess Cristina Maria of Orléans-Braganza (born 16 October 1950)
• Prince Francisco Humberto of Orléans-Braganza (born 9 December 1956)

Titles and styles

• Her Royal Highness Princess Dona Maria de la Esperanza of the Two Sicilies (14 June 1914 - 8 December 1944)
• Her Imperial and Royal Highness Princess Dona Maria de la Esperanza of Orleans-Braganza, Princess of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (8 December 1944 - 8 August 2005)

Honours

• Dame Grand Cross of Justice of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George
  Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George
  The Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George is a Roman Catholic order of chivalry. It was fictively established by Constantine the Great, though in reality it was founded between 1520 and 1545 by two brothers of the Angeli Comneni family. Members of the Angeli Comneni family remained...
  
  
• Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Queen Maria Luisa
  Order of Queen Maria Luisa
  The Royal Order of Queen María Luisa is an Order created by Charles IV of Spain by royal decree in April 21 1792 at the request of his wife Queen Maria Luisa, to have a way to reward noble women who distinguished themselves for their services and talents, so it was established as a distinction...
  
  

Ancestry