Anita de Braganza

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Anita de Braganza
Born
Anita Rhinelander Stewart

(1886-08-07)August 7, 1886
Elberon, New Jersey, U.S.
DiedSeptember 15, 1977(1977-09-15) (aged 91)
Newport, Rhode Island, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Other namesPrincess Miguel of Braganza
Anita Stewart Morris
TitlePrincess Miguel of Braganza, Duchess of Viseu
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1909; died 1923)​
​
​
(m. 1946; died 1967)​
ChildrenIsabel de Bragança
John de Bragança
Miguel de Bragança
Parent(s)Anne McKee Armstrong
William Rhinelander Stewart Sr.
RelativesLispenard Stewart (uncle)

Anita Rhinelander Morris (August 7, 1886 – September 15, 1977) was an American socialite and heiress who married Prince Miguel, Duke of Viseu, grandson of King Miguel I of Portugal, and the eldest son of Dom Miguel, Duke of Braganza, who was Miguelist claimant to the throne of Portugal from 1866 to 1920.

Early life[edit]

Anita Rhinelander Stewart was born in Elberon, New Jersey, on August 7, 1886. She was the daughter of Anne "Annie" McKee Armstrong (1864–1925) and William Rhinelander Stewart, Sr. (1852–1929), a wealthy descendant of an old Knickerbocker family.[1] She had one sibling, William Rhinelander Stewart, Jr., a philanthropist and President of the New York State Board of Charities.[2]

Her father was an attorney who managed several trusts for his family. Her parents divorced in August 1906, and afterwards, her mother married Wall Street millionaire James Henry Smith.[3][4] Smith died in Japan in 1907 while on their honeymoon. Her mother then married New York socialite Jean de Saint Cyr (1875–1966) on April 25, 1915.[3][4][5]

Her paternal uncle was the New York State Senator Lispenard Stewart Jr. (1855–1927).[6]

Her maternal aunt was Margarita "Rita" Armstrong (1867–1948), who married firstly Anthony Joseph Drexel Jr.[7] and secondly Lt.-Col. Brinsley FitzGerald,[8] son of Sir Peter FitzGerald, 1st Bt. and 19th Knight of Kerry.

Her paternal grandparents were Lispenard Stewart (1809–1867, a great-grandson of Col. Leonard Lispenard and grandnephew of Continental Congressman Lt.-Col. Charles Stewart) and Mary Rogers (née Rhinelander)[9] Stewart (1821–1893),[10] a first cousin of the prominent New York society figure and president of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Frederic W. Rhinelander. Her maternal grandparents were John Armstrong (1823–1884), of the Baltimore prominent Armstrong family,[7] and Margaretta (née McKee) Armstrong (1833–1900), daughter of Col. William R. McKee and Ann (née Alricks)[11][12] McKee.

Anita Rhinelander Stewart was furthermore a descendant, in legitimate lineage,[13] of King James I of Scotland by his wife Joan Beaufort, through their daughter Annabella Gordon, Countess of Huntly.[13][14]

Career[edit]

After her husband died in 1923, in order to regain her American citizenship (as well as for her children),[15] Anita had to renounce her royal title. However, New York society continued to refer to her with her regal title.[6][16]

Following her second marriage, she continued to operate a photography studio in Manhattan and spend time at Malbone, their Gothic Revival estate in Newport, Rhode Island.[1]

Personal life[edit]

On September 15, 1909, Stewart married Prince Miguel, Duke of Viseu (1878–1923) at St. Lawrence's Catholic Church in Dingwall, Scotland, with the reception at Dingwall Castle.[17][18][19][20] On September 6, a week preceding her wedding, Franz Joseph I, the Emperor of Austria, bestowed the title of Prinzessin von Braganza (Princess of Braganza) on her, and in her own right,[21][22][23] ensuring that Prince Miguel would not have to renounce his title.[24] Her husband was the eldest son of Infante Miguel, Duke of Braganza and Princess Elisabeth of Thurn and Taxis. In order to get the consent of his father to marry Anita, Prince Miguel had to renounce all claim to the throne of Portugal in favor of his younger brother, Prince Francis Joseph.[22] Out of this union, three children were born, all of whom used the title Prince or Princess until July 1920 when Prince Miguel renounced, for himself and his descendants, his rights of succession to the Portuguese throne:[16]

  • Isabel "Nadejda" de Bragança (1910–1946), who married Włodzimierz "Vadim" Dorozynski (1906–1933), son of a Polish-Russian naval officer,[25] on August 16, 1930, in Capri, Italy.[6] They divorced in 1932[25] and in 1942, she married French Partisan René Millet (1910–1978),[6] later Ambassador of France to Chad, Kenya and Burma.
  • John de Bragança (1912–1991), who married Winifred Dodge Seyburn (1917–2010) in 1948. They divorced in 1953 and in 1971, he was married to Katharine (née King) Bahnson (1921–2007).[26][27]
  • Miguel de Bragança (1915–1996), a St. George's School graduate,[28] who married Anne Hughson (1921–2017) in 1946.

In 1946, Anita married Lewis Gouverneur Morris II (1882–1967), the son of Francis Morris and Harriet Hall (née Bedlow) Morris, in New York City.[10][29]

Anita died at the age of 91, on September 15, 1977 (68 years to the day of her first marriage), at her home in Newport, Rhode Island.[1]

Titles and styles[edit]

  • 7 August 1886 – 6 September 1909: Miss Anita Rhinelander Stewart
  • 6 September 1909 – 15 September 1909: Anita, Princess von Braganza
  • 15 September 1909 – 21 July 1920:[16] Her Royal Highness[30] Princess Anita de Braganza, Duchess of Viseu
  • 21 July 1920 – 10 April 1946:[16] Her Highness Princess Anita de Braganza
  • March 1926[16] – 10 April 1946: Mrs. Anita de Bragança[16]
    Anita de Braganza regained her American citizenship in March 1926, following the renouncement of her royal titles in the Superior Court in Newport. Although her legal name became Anita de Bragança, she was still socially referred to as Princess Anita.[16][31]
  • 10 April 1946 – 15 September 1977: Mrs. Lewis Gouverneur Morris II


References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "Anita Stewart Morris, 91, Dies; Heiress Wed a European Prince". The New York Times. September 16, 1977. Archived from the original on 10 August 2023. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  2. ^ "William Rhinelander Stewart papers". The New York Public Library – Manuscripts and Archives Division. July 25, 1985. Archived from the original on 10 August 2023. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Heir Weds Widow Of 'Silent' Smith". The New York Times. April 26, 1915. Archived from the original on 10 August 2023. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  4. ^ a b "Big Fortunes Are Shuffled By Many Weddings: Mr. and Mrs. Jean De St. Cyr in West; Queer Romance". Oakland Tribune. July 21, 1915. p. 7. Archived from the original on September 20, 2023. Retrieved August 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ (in French) Jean Saint-Cyr / "St. Cyr Party", Bar Harbor, Maine, 1914. Archived 2017-09-26 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ a b c d "MISS DE BRAGANZA MARRIED IN ITALY; Daughter of Princess Miguel de Braganza Wed Vadim Dorozynski in Capri". The New York Times. September 3, 1930. Archived from the original on August 14, 2023. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
  7. ^ a b "Mr. Drexel's Bride.; The Young Banker's Marriage to Miss Rita Armstrong". The New York Times. Elberon, New Jersey. 15 September 1886. p. 4. Archived from the original on 2022-02-15. Retrieved 2022-02-15 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "MRS. BRINSLEY FITZGERALD". The New York Times. 13 February 1948. Archived from the original on 15 December 2019. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  9. ^ a b c Burke, Arthur Meredyth (1991). The Prominent Families of the United States of America. Genealogical Publishing Com. p. 212. ISBN 9780806313085. Archived from the original on 20 September 2023. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  10. ^ a b "PRINCESS BRAGANCA TO BE WED APRIL 10; Former Anita Stewart, Widow of Prince Miguel, and Lewis G. Morris to Marry Here". The New York Times. 23 March 1946. Archived from the original on 13 July 2018. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
  11. ^ a b Hannah, George (July 1893). Peter Alricks, of the Amsterdam Colony. pp. 125–132. Archived from the original on 14 August 2023. Retrieved 14 August 2023 – via Maryland State Archives.
  12. ^ a b Egle, William Henry (1969). Pennsylvania: Genealogies Chiefly Scotch-Irish and German. Genealogical Publishing Com. p. 18. ISBN 9780806301020. Archived from the original on 14 August 2023. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  13. ^ a b Browning, Charles Henry (1891). Americans of Royal Descent: A Collection of Genealogies of American Families Whose Lineage is Traced to the Legitimate Issue of Kings. Porter & Costes. pp. 401–404. Archived from the original on 10 August 2023. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  14. ^ Anita Rhinelander Stewart was through this line a descendant of John Gordon, 11th Earl of Sutherland and his wife Lady Helen Stewart (daughter of John Stewart, 3rd Earl of Lennox), of their son Alexander Gordon, 12th Earl of Sutherland, of the latter's son Sir Robert Gordon of Gordonstoun, 1st Baronet, of the latter's son-in-law Scottish soldier David Barclay of Ury (1610–1686), of the latter's son East Jersey Governor John Barclay, of the latter's grandson Andrew Barclay (1719–1772) and his wife Helena Roosevelt (granddaughter of Nicholas Roosevelt) and of their son-in-law Anthony Lispenard (son of Col. Leonard Lispenard).
  15. ^ Williams, George L. (25 August 2004). Papal Genealogy: The Families and Descendants of the Popes. McFarland & Company. p. 156. ISBN 9780786420711. Archived from the original on 20 September 2023. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
  16. ^ a b c d e f g Pike, Charlotte (1998). Almanach de Gotha (182nd ed.). Almanach de Gotha. p. 186. ISBN 0-9532142-0-6.
  17. ^ "ANITA STEWART WILL WED PRINCE MIGUEL; Daughter of Mrs. James Henry Smith to Marry Son of Portuguese Pretender. Grandfather Was King Father of Bride-to-be William Rhinelander Stewart -- First Marriage to Bring American Into Royal Circle. Anita Stewart Will Wed Prince Miguel". The New York Times. 10 July 1909. Archived from the original on 13 July 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
  18. ^ "ANITA STEWART WEDS SOON.; Will Become Prince Miguel's Bride in Scotland Sept. 15". The New York Times. 20 August 1909. Archived from the original on 13 July 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
  19. ^ "MISS STEWART WEDS TO-DAY.; American Girl Will Be the Bride of Prince Miguel of Braganza". The New York Times. 15 September 1909. Archived from the original on 13 July 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
  20. ^ "Miss Stewart Weds; Holds to Her Faith; Becomes Bride of Prince Miguel, but Has Not Entered the Catholic Church. Prince Retains Rights Has Not Yielded His Place in Line of Succession to the Throne -- Royalty at the Wedding". The New York Times. 16 September 1909. Archived from the original on 13 July 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
  21. ^ Hutto, Richard Jay (16 January 2017). The Kaiser's Confidante: Mary Lee, the First American-Born Princess. McFarland. p. 41. ISBN 9781476665726. Archived from the original on 23 July 2023. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
  22. ^ a b "MISS STEWART A PRINCESS.; Emperor Francis Joseph Confers the Rank in Her Own Right". The New York Times. 7 September 1909. Archived from the original on 14 July 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
  23. ^ Marquis of Ruvigny and Raineval, The Nobilities of Europe (London, 1910) page 237
  24. ^ Boldini, Giovanni. "Belle Époque Splendor: The Discerning Eye of a Collector – Portrait of Miss Anita Stewart". Sotheby's. Archived from the original on 10 August 2023. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  25. ^ a b "Milestones – Divorce, Nadjeda de Braganza Dorozynski". Time. 11 January 1932. Archived from the original on 10 August 2023. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  26. ^ "Mrs. Katharine Bahnson Wed In South to John de Bragança". The New York Times. 16 May 1971. Archived from the original on 27 September 2017. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
  27. ^ "John de Braganca, Investment Banker, 79". The New York Times. 15 March 1991. Archived from the original on 27 September 2017. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
  28. ^ "School in Newport Holds Graduation; Colonists Attend St. George Exercises as 29 Students Receive Their Diplomas". The New York Times. June 16, 1933.
  29. ^ "Anita (née Stewart, later Morris), Princess of Braganza". The National Portrait Gallery (NPG). 5 January 1923. Archived from the original on 10 August 2023. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  30. ^ "Prince of Braganza – ID: PAWA565". Am Baile – Highland History and Culture. 15 September 1909. Archived from the original on 14 August 2023. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  31. ^ "Musical America's Guide - Volume 48, Issues 12-37". Music Publications, Ltd. 1928. p. 12. Archived from the original on 20 September 2023. Retrieved 14 August 2023.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Anita Stewart.
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