Maria Anna do Carmo de Bragança (1861-1942)

Grand-Duchesse de Luxembourg. Born Maria Anna do Carmo de Bragança, Infanta de Portugal at Bronnbach an der Tauber, Germany, the fifth and second-youngest daughter of the deposed Miguel I de Bragança, Rei de Portugal and Adelheid Prinzessin zu Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg. She was married in June 1893 at Schloss Fischhorn, Zell am See to Wilhelm IV von Nassau-Weilburg, Grand-Duc de Luxembourg. The couple had six daughters and it was agreed that the children would be raised in their mother's Roman Catholic faith, as it was the religion of the majority of Luxembourg's population. Her husband took the throne upon the death of his father in November 1905, and as the last of the House of Nassau, he declared his daughters as his successors. She served as Regent for her husband during his terminal illness from November 1908 to February 1912. Upon his death, she served as Regent for her daughter, Grand Duchess Marie-Adélaïde, during her minority from February 1912 to June 1912. The family fled to the United States during World War II and the Dowager Grand Duchess died in exile in New York at age 81.

Bio by: Iola