Afonso is a claimant to the succession of the defunct throne of Portugal, as second in line in the Miguelist branch of the House of Braganza, after his father Duarte Pio.
[1] His baptismal name ends with Miguel Gabriel Rafael, a family tradition of the House of Braganza that honors the three archangels in the Catholic Church.
His godparents are Infanta Elena, Duchess of Lugo and his maternal uncle, Afonso Miguel de Herédia.
[2] Immediately after his baptism at the Sé Cathedral of Braga, the young prince was consecrated in nearby Guimarães to Nossa Senhora da Oliveira, (Our Lady of the Olive Tree), where his ancestor King John I (founder of the House of Aviz), along with his illegitimate son Afonso, Duke of Braganza (founder of the House of Braganza), had been to thank her for his victory at the battle of Aljubarrota, in 1385, against his niece Queen Beatrice of Portugal and her husband John I of Castile.
He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and International Relations from the Catholic University of Portugal at the Institute for Political Studies in Lisbon.. Afonso did professional internships at the Luso-American Chamber of Commerce, EDP and Accenture, and worked at an asset management company called Pury Pictet Turrenttini in Geneva.
In 2017, he, his brother Dinis, and their parents accompanied their sister Maria Francisca to the Bal des débutantes in Paris.