.. to be the perfect stepmother to the children of her husband Pedro of Brazil. Her mother taught her not to be “timid”. They had a good marriage.
She educated his children herself, including his eldest daughter Maria II who would become Queen of Brazil and a match for Amelie’s big brother, Auguste Charles. At the time Amelie came over on a ship to Brazil, Maria II was only 10 years old.
Amelie would also be asked to raise the illegitimate children of her husband, and to share her pension with them after his death.
(portraits: Amelie Auguste, Princess of Leuchtenberg who became Duchess of Bragenza and Consort to the King of Brazil in about 1840; below their wedding ceremony)
