Portugal, Kingdom of / Dona Maria II (Queen Maria II), second sole reign

Dona Maria II "the Educator" (Portuguese: "a Educadora") or "the Good Mother" (Portuguese: "a Boa Mãe"), was Queen regnant of the Kingdom of Portugal and the Algarves from 1826 to 1828, and again from 1834 to 1853. Born in Rio de Janeiro, she was the first child of Emperor Pedro I of Brazil and his first wife, Empress Maria Leopoldina and thus a member of the House of Braganza. One of the two surviving children born when Pedro was still Prince Royal of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves, she inherited Portuguese titles and was placed in the line of succession to the former Portuguese throne, even after becoming a member of the Brazilian Imperial Family, from which she was excluded in 1835 after her definitive ascension to the Portuguese throne.

Her husband, Dom Ferdinand II (Portuguese: Fernando II) was a German prince of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry, and King of Portugal jure uxoris from the birth of their son in 1837 to her death in 1853.