Princess Isabel Maria of Braganza


Princess Isabel Maria of Braganza was a member of the House of Braganza. Through her marriage to Franz Joseph, 9th Prince of Thurn and Taxis, Isabel Maria was also a member of the House of Thurn and Taxis and Princess consort of Thurn and Taxis.

Family

Isabel Maria was born in Kleinheubach, Bavaria, Germany, the eldest daughter of the Miguelist pretender to the Portuguese throne Miguel Januário, Duke of Braganza and his second wife Princess Maria Theresa of Löwenstein. Isabel Maria's father was the head of the non reigning branch of the Portuguese Royal House that had been exiled from Portugal. The exile was the result of the Portuguese law of banishment of 1834 and the constitution of 1838 which was brought about because his grandfather Miguel I of Portugal had in 1828 usurped the throne of Portugal from Queen Maria II. Her grandfather reigned as king until 1834 when Maria II was restored.

Marriage and issue

Isabel Maria married Franz Joseph, Hereditary Prince of Thurn and Taxis, eldest son of Albert, 8th Prince of Thurn and Taxis and his wife Archduchess Margarethe Klementine of Austria, on 23 November 1920 in Bronnbach, Wertheim am Main, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Isabel Maria and Franz Joseph had five children: