King Pedro V & Queen Stephanie (Estefania) of Portugal

[PssMarieAmelie]

I do not know much about her, so I would like to know more. I do know that she was the wife of Pedro V. And that she was born a princess of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen...any more info? Thanks.

[Eric_Lowe]

A beautiful Queen that died before her time. Stephanie was a Princess of Honenzollern-Sigmarigen, sister of King Carol of Romania and the Duchess of Flanders. She was very pretty and she made a good looking partner with the equally handsome King Pedro V. I think her life  mirrors that of Queen Mecedes of Spain (another girl queen dying before her time).

[Eric_Lowe]

What do people think of her ?

[Grand_Duke]

What do people think of her ?

Oh Queen Stephanie, one of my favourite Queens of Portugal.

She, as the King, were very educated and kind to all people, mainly the poors. She was very much beloved and popular. When she tragically died of diphteria, with 22 years, the King and all the people were very disturbed by her death.

[Grand_Duke]

Queen Stephanie



1860, oil on canvas, 185 x 139 cm
Nacional Palace of Ajuda, Lisbon, Portugal
by Carl Ferdinand Sohn (1805-1867)  

[PssMarieAmelie]

http://worldroots.com/brigitte/gifs13/pedro5portugal1837-4.jpg

Found a pic of Stephanie and her husband...

[Grand_Duke]

Queen Stephanie's grave




St. Vicent de Fora Church, Lisbon, Portugal

[grandduchessella]

This is a translation from German so it could be a little rough:

1852 fifteen-year Stephanie and her family settled in Dusseldorf as her father was serving as military governor. Here she not not only received instruction with professor Muecke, but also private piano instruction with Clara Schumann. On 15 December 1857 her marriage was celebrated. Pedro was represented by Leopold Stefan, who led his sister first in the Catholic cathedral in Berlin. In Duesseldorf it was celebrated with the opera "the night camp in Granada" by  Duesseldorfer authoress Katharina Diez. In early 1858 Stephanie went to Portugal where she became acquainted with her husband. Only one year later she died in Lisbon of diphtheria at age 22. Only one year after Stephanie’s death in the Duesseldorfer yard garden a monument was established for which the Duesseldorfer paid for themselves. In the memory of the citizens Stephanie was remembered as ‘the angel’ who went personally into the houses of the sick and needy in order to help them. Each year Dusseldorf celebrated the Stephanien anniversary. After a removal by the old part of town to the Stephanienstele a wreath/ring is laid down.

[cimbrio]

Can anyone tell me why was Estefânia married to King Pedro? What was the political importance of the match? Because as far as I know the Hohenzollern-Sigmaringegn branch weren't too politically important at the time (not, at least, until her brother became King of Romania...

Did Pedro go into deep mourning for her?

Did he even consider re-marrying after Estefânia's death?

Were there any miscarriages while the marriage lasted at all? I know that in the most similar case, King Alfonso XII and Queen Mercedes of Spain there was a miscarriage which is not often given account of.

[Bernardino]

Hello  

Indeed Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen were a 'small' sovereign family...in fact when they were married, this family held only sovereign status because Stephanie's father had given up his Principality to his cousin the King of Prussia...

When King Pedro wanted to marry, Europe experienced a great deficit of marrying princesses...
He wanted to marry Pss Charlotte of Belgium, and King Leopold wanted sincerely this to happen, but she was inlove with the future Emperor of Mexico...Leopold tried his best to see her married to the Portuguese King, but she had her own opinion...

He turned to Britain's Princesses, but Queen Victoria, though she had great estime towards her Portuguese cousins, felt the religious differencies were an intransponible wall...Her uncle Leopold reproched her for this...

In Spain there were some Infantas available...but Pedro didn't want them...

Then Prince Albert of Great Britain suggested Stephanie: she was pretty, had the same age as Pedro, and was a Catholic with connections to Protestant families (Baden, Prussia)...

While studying her ancestors, Pedro did not like the Murats and Beauharnais linkeage...Prince Albert remembered him that his grand-father (Emperor-King Pedro I-IV) had married a Beauharnais  ...

Than he send his emissary (Lavradio)...and after some arrangements...the marriage was done...

The King of Prussia made a little 'chantage' before he gave his permission: the exiled King Dom Miguel I (whom Pedro appreciated in secret) lived in bad conditions...not dignified enough for a man of his status...King Pedro gave support to his mother' s uncle...Miguel refered to Pedro as 'o meu anjo da guarda' (my guardian angel)...

[cimbrio]

Just out of curiosity, was there ever a plan to amrry Pedro V to one of the daughters of Dom Miguel I? They all married brilliantly in the end in my opinion, but perhaps a match between the two families could have sealed the breech between them; this idea happened in Spain on more than one occasion to seal the differences between the Isabile/Alfonsine brancha nd the Carlists; the last time such a plan was presented was a few years ago when it was suggested that C.P. Felipe of Asturias could marry his distant cousin, Maria Carolina of Bourbon-Parma, daughter of the Carlist pretendant. I don't know if there's even a shade of friendship between Felipe and Carolina even today  

[YaBB_Jose]

Just out of curiosity, was there ever a plan to amrry Pedro V to one of the daughters of Dom Miguel I? They all married brilliantly in the end in my opinion, but perhaps a match between the two families could have sealed the breech between them; this idea happened in Spain on more than one occasion to seal the differences between the Isabile/Alfonsine brancha nd the Carlists; the last time such a plan was presented was a few years ago when it was suggested that C.P. Felipe of Asturias could marry his distant cousin, Maria Carolina of Bourbon-Parma, daughter of the Carlist pretendant. I don't know if there's even a shade of friendship between Felipe and Carolina even today  

That would be rather difficult.
D.Pedro V married Stephanie in 1859.
The eldest of D. Miguel's daughters , Infanta D. Maria das Neves was born in 1852 so she was just 7 years old.

[Grand_Duke]

Just out of curiosity, was there ever a plan to marry Pedro V to one of the daughters of Dom Miguel I?

I think that would be impossible because D. Miguel and all his descendants were exiled FOREVER from Portugal and forbidden to step foot on Portugal. What is ironic is that today's Portuguese royals are the descendants of the exiled ex-king Miguel and they would be on the throne, if Portugal was a Monarchy, since the branch from King Pedro IV/I is extinct.  

perhaps a match between the two families could have sealed the breech between them

This match happened later when D. Duarte Nuno, Duke of Braganza (from the Miguelist branch), married his cousin Maria Francisca of Orleans-Bragança, princess of Brasil (from the Pedro IV Brazilian branch) in 1942. Their 1st son is the actual Duke of Braganza, D. Duarte Pio.

[Bernardino]

It would be nice to see Queen Maria II's blood come back...

[Grand_Duke]

Did Pedro go into deep mourning for her?
Did he even consider re-marrying after Estefânia's death?

Yes, Pedro V suffered a lot with Estefânia's death. After she died, he wrote about Estefânia: "She was a heart to Earth and a spirit to Heaven". Many times Pedro slept very agitated and woke up crying a lot. To ease his pain, he worked very much.
His sorrow, pain and love were so big that he didn't want to remarry. Between Estefânia's and Pedro's death it passed 2 years: it was still very early for Pedro remarry. Had he lived more, maybe he would remarry.

Were there any miscarriages while the marriage lasted at all?

I think there weren't any miscarriages.