Princess Paula of Brazil

Dona Paula was a princess of the Empire of Brazil and thus, a member of the Brazilian branch of the Portuguese House of Braganza. Her parents were Emperor Dom Pedro I, the first ruler of an independent Brazil, and Archduchess Leopoldina of Austria. Born in Rio de Janeiro, Paula was the couple's third child; she lost her mother at the age of three and her father at the age of eight, when he abdicated and left Brazil for Portugal, where he wanted to restore the throne of Paula's eldest sister, Maria da Glória, who should have become queen regnant of Portugal.