New Plan to Fix Brazil’s Royal Mess: Restore the Monarchy

Royal political mess rallies monarchists to action; $19 golf shirts

Monarchists at an antigovernment protest in March waved imperial flags and posed with Prince Dom Antonio de Orleans e Bragança, the brother of Dom Luiz, who royalists believe is Brazil’s rightful king. 

By PAUL KIERNAN
Updated June 17, 2016 2:23 p.m. ET
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RIO DE JANEIRO—With an economy near depression and a political crisis dividing their nation, Brazilians could use a superhero right now.

For a passionate minority who show up at protests waving their country’s imperial flag, a king would suffice.

The 26th annual Monarchical Encounter in Rio this month was abuzz with hope that Brazil’s deepening turmoil might turn more citizens on to the idea of scrapping their presidential republic in favor of a constitutional monarchy.

In a nondescript conference room at a three-star hotel near downtown, guests paid 250 reais, or about $72, to have lunch and mingle with a handful of descendants of Brazil’s last emperor, Dom Pedro II, whose reign ended with a military coup in 1889. As supporters bowed and curtsied to the pretenders, organizers hawked $10 baseball caps, $7 mouse pads and $19 golf shirts printed with the royal insignia.


Monarchist youth described their attempt to promote the cause on Facebook and YouTube. Federal congressman Paulo Martins, of the conservative PSDB party, gave a speech about the political case for restoring the crown. “Imperial Brazil, for whatever problems it had, was on the right path,” he said. “The emperor was respected.”

Dom Pedro II

Royalists say the 49-year reign of Dom Pedro II was the most economically and politically stable period in their nation’s history. From 1824 to 1889, Brazil had only one constitution; it has had six in the years since. Many of the wealthiest and least corrupt countries on earth—such as Norway, Australia and Holland—are constitutional monarchies, they say.

The conservative, mostly bourgeois royalists express disgust at Brazil’s current leftist government and the social changes that have moved the country away from traditional Catholic values. “Without anyone to govern them, man falls prey to his own debilities,” said one speaker at the Monarchical Encounter.

“I’ve been a monarchist for my whole life, since I was in school and studied the empire of Dom Pedro II,” said Rodrigo Dias, a 34-year-old physician in Rio. “As a child I could not understand why we changed our way of government.”

Historians are quick to note that Brazil was the last country in the Americas to abolish slavery—Dom Pedro II was overthrown after he lost the support of elites angry about emancipation. They also point out that parliamentary elections during the empire were rarely free or fair and that corruption was endemic.

The movement is built on nostalgia for an era that never really existed, says Lilia Schwarcz, an anthropology professor who has written history books about Brazil and Dom Pedro II: “It’s a desire for a miracle.”

Dr. Dias and his counterparts believe Brazil would be steadier if its head of state didn’t have to descend into the partisan fray every four years to run for election. The king or queen would stand as a symbol of national unity and common values, while the dirty work of government would be left to a parliament led by a prime minister.

One of the group’s key theories is that a monarch, groomed from an early age to serve the country and all but guaranteed a lifelong mandate, would be less inclined to steal public money.

With many of Brazil’s top politicians ensnared in a corruption scandal, the monarchists don’t see any future royalty among the 35 registered parties. Most say the line of succession from Dom Pedro II leads to Dom Luiz de Orleans e Bragança, Dom Pedro II’s 78-year-old great-great-grandson.

Hats and other monarchist souvenirs for sale at the Monarchical Encounter this month. 

PHOTO: PAUL KIERNAN/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Dom Luiz is in deteriorating health and rarely appears in public. His younger brother, 75-year-old Imperial Prince Dom Bertrand, runs an organization called Pró Monarquia from his two-story home in an upscale neighborhood in São Paulo—the dynasty’s former palace in Rio de Janeiro now houses Brazil’s National Museum, while its summer estate in Petrópolis is home to the Imperial Museum. A small staff in formal attire addresses Dom Bertrand as “Your Highness.”

In 1993, the year after ex-President Fernando Collor was impeached, Brazil held a plebiscite to decide on its form of government. Two-thirds of voters opted for a republic. Of the 13.2% who voted for a monarchy, political scientists believe at least some did so to protest a political class widely seen as corrupt and ineffective.

The monarchists say their ranks are again growing, fueled by popular angst and social media. Attendance at the Monarchical Encounter roughly doubled from last year to about 120 people, bolstered by the presence of several Orleans e Bragança princes (most of them have day jobs).

The Facebook page of Pró Monarquia celebrated its 25,000th “like” this month. Matheus Guimarães, its 21-year-old curator, said the group got a boost when leftist President Dilma Rousseff won re-election in 2014. “We got hundreds of likes within minutes,” he said, adding that Brazil’s republicans “have their days numbered.”

With Ms. Rousseff now facing impeachment and interim President Michel Temer dogged by low approval ratings, monarchists are charting their ascent from obscurity.

At the Monarchical Encounter, Bruno Hellmuth, a 66-year-old cardiologist who heads the Rio de Janeiro chapter of the Brazilian Monarchical Circle, called on his counterparts in other states to identify sympathetic politicians, in hopes of establishing a monarchist bloc in Congress in time for 2018 elections. He floated the idea of requesting diplomatic passports for Orleans e Bragança elders.

“Perhaps we can take advantage of this moment of weakness,” he said.

Many Brazilians aren’t even aware their country has pretenders to its defunct throne. Others ridicule the idea that a nation as large and racially diverse as Brazil should be represented into perpetuity by a deeply conservative royal family descended from European colonial rulers—Dom Bertrand says he can trace his family history to Charlemagne.

A June 5 video address to Brazil posted on Facebook by 30-year-old Rafael de Orleans e Bragança, fourth in Dom Pedro II’s line of succession, drew more than 7,000 comments. They included laughter, vomiting emoticons and many people who initially thought the video was a satirical joke.

There were also scores of replies from monarchists themselves, diligently defending their cause.


“It is normal to find it strange after 127 years of doctrine from the Republic,” Facebook user Daniel Andrade Taubaté responded to a needler. “We invite you to learn more about our glorious Imperial past.”

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