Claimants to headship of the post-monarchic Brazilian Imperial legacy descend from Emperor Pedro II, including the senior agnates of two branches of the House of Orléans-Braganza; the so-called Petrópolis and Vassouras lines.

He reigned until 7 April 1831 when he abdicated due to a long ideological conflict between with a sizable parliamentary faction over the role of the monarch in the government and other obstacles.

The power vacuum resulting from the absence of a ruling monarch as the ultimate arbiter in political disputes led to regional civil wars between local factions.

Having inherited an empire on the verge of disintegration, Pedro II, once he was declared of age, managed to bring peace and stability to the country, which eventually became an emerging international power.

Even though the last four decades of Pedro II's reign were marked by continuous internal peace and economic prosperity, he had no expectation to see the monarchy survive beyond his lifetime and made no effort to maintain support for the institution.

In the party that accompanied the imperial family were included many loyal subjects and nobles, as politicians such the Viscount of Ouro Preto, the deposed last Prime Minister of the Empire, as well the Emperor's particular doctor.

Currently, the remains of five members of the imperial family are buried in the Imperial Mausoleum in Petrópolis: Emperor Pedro II and Empress Teresa Cristina, whose mortal remains were transferred from the Royal Pantheon of the House of Braganza in Lisbon, in 1921, on the occasion of the centenary of the Independence of Brazil, Princess Isabel, removed from the cemetery of Eu in 1953 with her husband, Prince Gaston, and the Prince of Grão-Pará, transferred from the cemetery of Petrópolis in 1990, together with his wife.

In 1954, the remains of the first Empress, Maria Leopoldina, were transferred to the Imperial Crypt and Chapel in São Paulo, which were in the Santo Antônio Convent, Rio de Janeiro.

In 1972, on the occasion of the sesquicentenary of Independence, the remains of Emperor Pedro I were transferred from the Royal Pantheon of the House of Braganza to the Imperial Chapel.

In 1908, Dom Pedro de Alcântara, then Prince Imperial of Brazil in exile, wanted to marry Countess Elisabeth Dobržensky de Dobrženicz (1875–1951), whose family had belonged to the nobility of the kingdom of Bohemia since 1339, and whose legitimate members, male and female, bore the title of baron since 1744 and of count or countess since issuance of Austrian letters patent on 21 February 1906.

[3] Although the constitution of the Brazilian Empire did not require dynasts to marry equally, it made the marriage of the heir to the throne dependent upon the sovereign's consent.

[7][8][9][10][11][12][13] To solemnize this, Dom Pedro, aged thirty-three, signed the document translated here: I, Prince Pedro de Alcântara Luiz Filipe Maria Gastão Miguel Gabriel Rafael Gonzaga of Orleans-Braganza, having maturely reflected, have resolved to renounce the right that, by the Constitution of the Empire of Brazil, promulgated on 25 March 1824, accords to me the Crown of that nation.

I declare, therefore, that by my free and spontaneous will I hereby renounce, in my own name, as well as for any and all of my descendants, to all and any rights that the aforesaid Constitution confers upon us to the Brazilian Crown and Throne, which shall pass to the lines which follow mine, conforming to the order of succession as established by article 117.

[8][9][10][11][12][13] Isabel's headship of the Brazilian Imperial House lasted until her death in 1921, when she is widely considered to have been succeeded by her grandson, Prince Pedro Henrique of Orléans-Braganza.

[8][9][10][11][12][13] Pedro Henrique was the elder son of Prince Luiz, second child of Isabel and a veteran of World War I who had died in 1920 from an illness he contracted in the trenches.

[3] The Saxe-Coburg-Braganza branch is descended from Princess Leopoldina of Brazil, second daughter of Dom Pedro II, and her husband, Prince Ludwig August of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry.

Due to several years of difficulties that the Princess Imperial Isabel experienced in producing an heir to the throne, clauses were included in the marriage contract between Leopoldina and her husband to ensure that the couple should, among other things, reside part of the year in Brazil and have their children on Brazilian territory, as heirs presumptive of Isabel: Pedro Augusto, Augusto Leopoldo, and José Fernando.

[24] Carlos Tasso de Saxe-Coburgo e Bragança, Baron Taxis-Bordogna-Valnigra and son of Princess Teresa Cristina, is the current head of this branch.