Luiz Gastão Maria José Pio[1] was born on 6 June 1938 in Mandelieu-la-Napoule, France, as the oldest son of Pedro Henrique of Orléans-Braganza, the Vassouras great-grandson of Emperor Pedro II of Brazil, and his wife, Maria Elisabeth of Bavaria, granddaughter of King Ludwig III of Bavaria.

[2] Returning to Brazil in 1967, his family having already moved to Vassouras (Rio de Janeiro), Luiz became a member of the Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property,[3] a traditionalist Catholic organization which opposes socialistic land reform and supports conservative politics based on Catholic social doctrine and the principles promoted by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira.

Alongside Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza, his Portuguese counterpart and second cousin, he opposed same-sex marital unions, as of a 2015 declaration.

They played major roles during the campaign for the 1993 plebiscite, which represented the first official opportunity for a return of the monarchy to Brazil since the Proclamation of the Republic in 1889.

[8] On July 15, 2022, the President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro and the Minister of Foreign Affairs signed a decree declaring a national day of official mourning for the death of Luiz.