Anita Rhinelander Stewart was born in
Elberon, New Jersey, on August 7, 1886. She was the daughter of Anne "Annie" McKee Armstrong (1864–1925) and William Rhinelander Stewart, Sr. (1852–1929), a wealthy descendant of an old
Knickerbocker family.[1] She had one sibling, William Rhinelander Stewart, Jr., a philanthropist and President of the New York State Board of Charities.[2]
Her father was an attorney who managed several trusts for his family. Her parents divorced in August 1906, and afterwards, her mother married
Wall Street millionaire James Henry Smith.[3][4] Smith died in Japan in 1907 while on their honeymoon. Her mother then married New York socialite
Jean de Saint Cyr (1875–1966) on April 25, 1915.[3][4][5]
After her husband died in 1923, in order to regain her American citizenship (as well as for her children),[15] Anita had to renounce her royal title. However, New York society continued to refer to her with her regal title.[6][16]
On September 15, 1909, Stewart married
Prince Miguel, Duke of Viseu (1878–1923) at St. Lawrence's Catholic Church in
Dingwall,
Scotland, with the reception at
Dingwall Castle.[17][18][19][20] On September 6, a week preceding her wedding,
Franz Joseph I, the
Emperor of Austria, bestowed the
title of Prinzessin von Braganza (Princess of Braganza) on her, and in her own right,[21][22][23] ensuring that Prince Miguel would not have to renounce his title.[24] Her husband was the eldest son of
Infante Miguel, Duke of Braganza and
Princess Elisabeth of Thurn and Taxis. In order to get the consent of his father to marry Anita, Prince Miguel had to renounce all claim to the throne of Portugal in favor of his younger brother,
Prince Francis Joseph.[22] Out of this union, three children were born, all of whom used the title Prince or Princess until July 1920 when Prince Miguel renounced, for himself and his descendants, his rights of succession to the Portuguese throne:[16]
Isabel "Nadejda" de Bragança (1910–1946), who married Włodzimierz "Vadim" Dorozynski (1906–1933), son of a Polish-Russian naval officer,[25] on August 16, 1930, in
Capri, Italy.[6] They divorced in 1932[25] and in 1942, she married
French Partisan René Millet (1910–1978),[6] later Ambassador of France to Chad, Kenya and Burma.
John de Bragança (1912–1991), who married Winifred
Dodge Seyburn (1917–2010) in 1948. They divorced in 1953 and in 1971, he was married to Katharine (née King) Bahnson (1921–2007).[26][27]
Miguel de Bragança (1915–1996), a
St. George's School graduate,[28] who married Anne Hughson (1921–2017) in 1946.
Anita died at the age of 91, on September 15, 1977 (68 years to the day of her first marriage), at her home in Newport, Rhode Island.[1]
Titles and styles
7 August 1886 – 6 September 1909: Miss Anita Rhinelander Stewart
6 September 1909 – 15 September 1909: Anita, Princess von Braganza
15 September 1909 – 21 July 1920:[16]Her Royal Highness[30] Princess Anita de Braganza, Duchess of Viseu
21 July 1920 – 10 April 1946:[16]Her Highness Princess Anita de Braganza
March 1926[16] – 10 April 1946: Mrs. Anita de Bragança[16]
Anita de Braganza regained her American citizenship in March 1926, following the renouncement of her royal titles in
the Superior Court in Newport. Although her legal name became Anita de Bragança, she was still socially referred to as Princess Anita.[16][31]
10 April 1946 – 15 September 1977: Mrs. Lewis Gouverneur Morris II