The Peerage and Royalty

Soon after the birth of his grandson, Joao VI finally returned to Portugal. Along with him went most members of the Braganza family, Pedro remained in Brazil to act as regent for his father. Initially Joao VI was appalled at Pedro's desire to remain in Brazil, but after his son refused to back away from his decision, the king agreed to Pedro and Leopoldina remaining behind. Dom Miguel, the king's second son, did not question returning to Portugal for he never really adapted to life in Brazil. Besides it is quite possible that Miguel already foresaw his future as monarch of Portugal while his brother remained ruler of Brazil. Leopoldina's life in Brazil was to be fraught with anxieties over her future, that of her children and the decreasing attention paid her by her husband. Her first disappointment was the untimely death of little Prince Joao in 1822. The arrival of a second daughter one month after Joao's death did not improve much the parents' spirits. For Pedro an heir was a necessity since the heir presumptive to Portugal and Brazil was his increasingly troublesome brother Dom Miguel. A third daughter, Paula Mariana, was born in 1823. In late 1822, Prince Regent Pedro of Braganza decided to stage a coup d"etat to emancipate Brazil from the Portuguese crown. Joao VI himself had recommended this course of action as a means of guaranteeing the Brazilian crown would remain under the Braganzas. During the royal family's long stay in Brazil the colony had learned how to rule itself without Lisbon"s guidance. Once Napoleon's regime was ousted, Lisbon faintly tried to restore its control over Brazilian affairs. This course of action was deeply resented by the Brazilians who were deeply resentful of Portuguese involvement in the country"s internal affairs. Thus to guarantee that Brazil would not be completely lost, Prince Regent Pedro gave his support to the independence movement that sealed the colony"s break from Lisbon. At the age of twenty-four, the Prince Regent became Emperor Pedro I of Brazil. In the meantime, Pedro I continued to neglect his Austrian consort. It seemed that the only reason why he spent any time with her was in an effort to produce the long-awaited heir. The couple's fourth daughter, Francisca Carolina, was born in 1824. Pedro"s impatience with Leopoldina knew no bounds and he continued to spend more time away from her and in the arms of his mistresses. Leopoldina's life in Brazil had turned into a living inferno, far away from her family, ignored by her husband, the young Brazilian empress slowly fell into deep depression. In Vienna, Emperor Franz I openly referred to his Brazilian son-in-law as a scoundrel. Nonetheless, Pedro and Leopoldina continued their efforts to produce an heir. The arrival of Prince Pedro de Alcantara of Braganza in late 1825, was Leopoldina's crowning satisfaction. Exhausted by constant childbearing since her arrival in Brazil, Empress Leopoldina died practically ignored by her husband one year after the birth of the couple's only surviving son.