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♕ AUGUST 13, 1822 — Maria Leopoldina of Austria is appointed as Acting Princess Regent of the Kingdom of Brazil

In August 1822, the then Prince Regent of Brazil Dom Pedro went on a political tour to the Province of São Paulo to secure the province's loyalty. On August 13, Dom Pedro appointed his wife, the Princess Maria Leopoldina of Austria, as Acting Princess Regent of the Kingdom of Brazil and head of the Council of State in his absence, giving her authority to take the necessary political decisions. On September 2, 1822 a new decree from Portugal arrived in Rio de Janeiro. The letter overturned the Brazilian government and demanded the immediate return of Pedro to Portugal. Maria Leopoldina immediately met the minister José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva and summons the Council of State. She signs on the same day the Decree of Independence, declaring Brazil separate from Portugal. Leopoldina send her husband the news, along with a letter urging him to proclaim the independence of Brazil. On September 7, 1822 at the shore of the Ipiranga River in São Paulo the letter reached Dom Pedro and he declared the independence of Brazil from the former United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. The Prince and Princess then became Emperor Dom Pedro I of Brazil and Empress Consort Maria Leopoldina of Austria. As Acting Princess Regent Leopoldina was the first woman to govern an independent Brazil, the first empress consort of the country, the first empress of the Americas and the first woman to govern an independent American country.

♕ AUGUST 13, 1822 — Maria Leopoldina of Austria is appointed as Acting Princess Regent of the Kingdom of Brazil

In August 1822, the then Prince Regent of Brazil Dom Pedro went on a political tour to the Province of São Paulo to secure the province's loyalty. On August 13, Dom Pedro appointed his wife, the Princess Maria Leopoldina of Austria, as Acting Princess Regent of the Kingdom of Brazil and head of the Council of State in his absence, giving her authority to take the necessary political decisions. On September 2, 1822 a new decree from Portugal arrived in Rio de Janeiro. The letter overturned the Brazilian government and demanded the immediate return of Pedro to Portugal. Maria Leopoldina immediately met the minister José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva and summons the Council of State. She signs on the same day the Decree of Independence, declaring Brazil separate from Portugal. Leopoldina send her husband the news, along with a letter urging him to proclaim the independence of Brazil. On September 7, 1822 at the shore of the Ipiranga River in São Paulo the letter reached Dom Pedro and he declared the independence of Brazil from the former United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. The Prince and Princess then became Emperor Dom Pedro I of Brazil and Empress Consort Maria Leopoldina of Austria. Leopoldina was the first woman to govern an independent Brazil and the first woman to govern an independent American country.

1 DECEMBER 1822 — Coronation of Dom Pedro I as Emperor of Brazil

Following the proclamation of the Independence of Brazil from Portugal on September 7, 1822 the then Prince Regent Dom Pedro was acclaimed as Emperor Dom Pedro I of Brazil on October 12, 1822, using as full title Constitutional Emperor and Perpetual Defender of Brazil. October 12 also marks the official inauguration of the Empire of Brazil (October 12, 1822 - November 15, 1889). Decrees were issued to formalize the symbols of the new Empire, such as the national motto “Independence or Death”, the new coat of arms and the flag of Brazil, in which the green rectangle (in honor of Pedro’s family, the House of Braganza), represented the forests and the yellow rhombus (in honor of Leopoldina’s family, the House of Habsburg-Lorraine), represented the gold. On December 1, 1822 Dom Pedro was crowned in a ceremony that took place in the then Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro and was presided over by the Bishop of Rio de Janeiro. Pedro arrived at the cathedral with his consort Empress Maria Leopoldina of Austria and his eldest daughter Princess Maria da Glória, the future Queen Maria II of Portugal. The ceremony was attended by members of the court, ministers of the government, representatives of the people, members of the clergy, officers of state, representatives from various provinces and a large crowd on the streets. Inside the cathedral Leopoldina, Maria da Glória and others ladies of the court were seated in the honour boxes in the second floor directly in front of the throne, located at the altar. In the rite of consecration the Emperor was solemnly blessed, anointed, crowned, invested with items of the imperial regalia and enthroned, according to the usages of the Catholic Church. Brazil never used the rites for the coronation of a sovereign's consort and thus Empress Maria Leopoldina was not crowned alongside her husband. 

Succeeding the anointing Dom Pedro was clad in the imperial vestments, wich included the imperial mantle, a pelerine, a gorget, his military uniform and riding boots. The imperial mantle, made in a poncho shape, was of dark green velvet embroidered with gold tread showing decorative patterns of palm tree branches (a symbol of triumph and victory) and stars (representing the Brazilian provinces). Over the mantle was a traditional white gorget and a yellow pelerine made of Toucan feathers, a bird native to Brazil. The unusual combination of riding boots and the imperial mantle added another military aspect to the vestment and alluded to Pedro’s dynamic and energic personality. Completed the attire the imperial sword, the gloves, the ring, the orb, the rod of the Hand of Justice, the sceptre and the crown. The Emperor’s crown was made of gold and set with diamonds, decorated with palm branches and the arms of Brazil. The apparel of Empress Leopoldina had similar aspects, including a green velvet mantle embroidered with gold, a white gown embroidered with silver and a gold diadem with diamonds and adorned with green and white plumes.

After being crowned and enthroned Dom Pedro made an ecclesiastical oath followed by a civil oath that was also made by the representatives of the people. Pedro promised to rule according to law and to abide by the future Constitution that would be adopted for the Empire. The Emperor's departure from the church was followed by other ceremonies inside the Imperial Palace of the City and then finally Dom Pedro presented himself to the public in one of the palace’s balcony, receiving official and popular acclamations. The coronations of Emperor Dom Pedro I and of his son Emperor Dom Pedro II (1841) were the two sole acts of coronation that took place in South America.

On September 2, 1822, a new decree from Portugal arrived in Rio de Janeiro while the Prince Regent of Brazil, Dom Pedro, was in a political tour in the Province of São Paulo. The letter overturned the Brazilian government and demanded the immediate return of Pedro to Portugal. Since August 13 the Princess Maria Leopoldina of Austria was the Acting Princess Regent of the Kingdom of Brazil and head of the Council of State in the absence of her husband. Aware that Portugal intended to relegate Brazil again to the status of a simple colony rather than a kingdom united to that of Portugal and fearing a civil war the Princess acted imediately. Maria Leopoldina met in the morning of 2 September 1822 the minister José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva and summons the Council of State. She signs on that day the Decree of Independence, declaring Brazil separate from Portugal. Leopoldina sends Pedro the news, along with letters from her and from José Bonifácio urging him to proclaim the independence of Brazil. On September 7, 1822 at the shore of the Ipiranga River in São Paulo the letter reached Dom Pedro and he declared the independence of Brazil from the former United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. The Prince and Princess then became Emperor Dom Pedro I of Brazil and Empress Consort Maria Leopoldina of Austria.

Coincidentally, 196 years later, on September 2, 2018 the Palace of São Cristóvão (Saint Christopher’s Palace), then the home of the Museu Nacional (National Museum of Brazil) was destroyed in a large fire. The palace was the residence of the Portuguese Royal Family and the Brazilian Imperial Family between 1808 and 1889, and housed the Museum and it’s collection of natural history, ethnology and archaeology since 1892. The facade of the building still stands, but the approximately 122 rooms and the majority of the 20 million objects of the Museum’s collection were lost.

♕ Maria Leopoldina of Austria, the Empress Consort of Brazil in every episode of “Novo Mundo” [7/-]