Princess Maria di Grazia
Princess Imperial of Brazil
Born	(1878-08-12)12 August 1878 Cannes, France[citation needed]
Died	20 June 1973(1973-06-20) (aged 94) Mandelieu-la-Napoule, France[citation needed]
Burial	Royal Chapel, Dreux, France
Spouse	Prince Luís of Orléans-Braganza (m. 1908; died 1920)
Issue	Prince Pedro Henrique Prince Luiz Gastão Princess Pia Maria, Countess of Nicolay
Names Italian: Maria delle Grazie Pia Chiara Anna Teresa Isabella Luitgarda Apollonia Agata Cecilia Filomena Antonia Lucia Cristina Caterina di Borbone
House	Bourbon-Two Sicilies Orléans-Braganza
Father	Prince Alfonso, Count of Caserta
Mother	Princess Antonietta of Bourbon-Two Sicilies
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Princess Maria di Grazia (Full Italian name: Maria delle Grazie Pia Chiara Anna Teresa Isabella Luitgarda Apollonia Agata Cecilia Filomena Antonia Lucia Cristina Caterina di Borbone ^[1]) (12 August 1878 – 20 June 1973) was a princess of Bourbon-Two Sicilies and princess of Orléans-Braganza through her marriage to Prince Luiz of Orléans-Braganza.

Family

Maria was the daughter of Prince Alfonso of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Count of Caserta and his wife Princess Antonietta of Bourbon-Two Sicilies.^{[citation needed]} She was usually called “Maria Pia”. Her father, the third son of King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies, became Head of the Royal House of the Two Sicilies with the death of his elder brother, King Francis II, in 1894. At the time of his birth, however, the Sicilian Royal Family was already exiled in France due to Italian Unification, which took place in 1861.

Marriage and issue

Maria married Prince Luiz Maria of Orléans-Braganza, son of Prince Gaston of Orléans, Count of Eu and his wife Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil, on 4 November 1908 in Cannes, France.^{[citation needed]} Maria and Luiz had three children:^{[citation needed]}

• Prince Pedro Henrique Afonso Felipe Maria Miguel Gabriel Rafael Gonzaga of Orléans-Braganza (13 September 1909 – 5 July 1981)

∞ Princess Maria Elisabeth of Bavaria (1914–2011) at Nymphenburg Palace on 19 August 1937. Pedro Henrique and Maria had twelve children.

• Prince Luiz Gastão Antônio Maria Filipe Miguel Gabriel Rafael Gonzaga of Orléans-Braganza (19 February 1911 – 8 September 1931)
• Princess Pia Maria Raniera Isabella Antonia Vitoria Thereza Amélia Gerarda Raimunda Anna Micaela Rafaela Gabriela Gonzaga of Orléans-Braganza (4 March 1913 – 24 October 2000)

∞ René, Count de Nicolay at Paris on 12 August 1933. Pia Maria and René had three sons.

Later life

Prince Luís died in 1920 leaving Maria a widow for the remainder of her life. In 1922, Maria accompanied the Brazilian Imperial Family to Brazil for the country's centennial celebrations of its independence. During the course of the trip, the Count of Eu died while recumbent upon her shoulder. Princess Maria preferred to live with her children in France, where they could have a better education. She died at her country house in Mandelieu and was later buried at the Orléans Mausoleum at Dreux, with her husband. She was short of her ninety-fifth birthday.

Ancestry