When D. João and the Royal Family of Portugal fled to Brasil

 Napoleon the terror of Europe is pummelling the doors of Portugal, his army led by the great General Junot is fast approaching Portugal sometime in November of 1807.
What utter chaos on the Quay of Belem……

The Royal Family of Portugal waiting to flee, dread in their hearts for the tyrant of Europe – Napoleon.  Daughters separated from their parents, wives sometimes happy to see the last of their husbands. Nobles all waiting to board the ships, sometimes with just the clothes on their backs and sadly no money.

More than 700 carriages bring the Royal Family to the Quays of Belem, but did the Royals number 700? Of course not, the Royals were just a handful, as for the rest it is the Court, the flatterers, the maids in waiting, the hangers on……. Remember how Marie Antoinette could not keep her hairdresser behind when she was fleeing the guillotine? How the Royals loved all those fawners, the pomp and circumstance. Never mind who paid for their upkeep

D. João accompanied by D. Pedro Carlos, heir to the throne of Spain occupy the main ship, the Príncipe Real which will be their floating throne for the next three months. Dona Carlota Joaquina and her daughters, the next to arrive, board the Alfonso de Albuquerque; All of a sudden loud screaming and head banging can be heard, it is the Queen Mother, the Mad Queen Dona Maria the First who screams at the top of her voice Ai Jesus, Ai Jesus, she does not want to flee, she wants to stay in Portugal and fight Napoleon, brave lady.
The Royal Family penniless fleeing Portugal, no chance…… they had half the treasury of Portugal valued at nearly 80 million cruzados the other half, spent buying a Neutrality Pact with Napoleon. Around 10 million cruzados left for Junot’s occupation army, is Junot happy? No way, would you fight war for 10 million cruzados? He melts the silver from the churches and palaces, the money pays for the maintenance of the French troops in the war to follow. Thousands of Portuguese civilians and soldiers killed in this war.
Quo Vadis Royal D. João, King of Portugal?
To Brasil of course…..The land of sun, sand and cariocas. The best, the richest and the largest Colony Portugal has. In fact past years, Brasil has been supporting our extravagant style of living. So we need to be safe in Brasil and of course enjoy.
But aren’t you supposed to be with your people, in this hour of need, don’t they need your moral support in this terrible calamity?
D. João, stamps his fat little foot, he has put on so much of weight, just loves to eat. Pssst, he even carries roasted chickens in his pockets. Grubby clothes, of course they are oily, dirty and smell of rancid fat, but that doesn’t bother him, he gets clean when he bathes once a year.
Look here, I never wanted to be King, never, I just wanted to live my life peacefully and then the heir apparent my brother, D. Jose had to go and die of small pox all because my Mother , Queen Maria the First refused to let him be vaccinated. To make matters worse, my Mother goes mad. And now I am the King, surely you don’t expect me to confront and fight Napoleon? The very thought.
But D. João a similar fate had befallen another King , King George the VI from England too did not want to be a King when his brother abdicated to marry a divorcee, but he did become a King and a
good one too. When the Nazis knocked on his door, he did not flee to his Colonies and he could choose any part of the World, nearly three fourths of the world were his colonies. He stayed right there in London with his wife and daughters. His palace was bombed so many times….

So the Royal Family flees Lisbon, what utter confusion on the Quay of Belem, baggage piled high, precious books from Real Biblioteca, silver plundered from churches, water, bed linen everything left behind, everything forgotten in the hurry to get away, everything left on the quay. Everything borrowed for a price of course from the British Navy. Horror of horrors the ships were already overloaded, there was no technical support for such a long journey and those ships would take at least 3 months to cross the Atlantic. Without the aid from the British Navy the entire trip would have been a colossal disaster.

 Imagine no running water not even bathrooms, can you think of…….suspended on a platform miles above the sea. Underwear a thing of the past, a dream. Scurvy and other ills kill so many people aboard.  If all these horrors were not bad enough there is terrible infestation, hold your breath the stink is overpowering, of lice on board the Alfonso de Albuquerque. Now isn’t it where the Queen Carlota Joaquina and the princesses have been lodged? Yes it is. So the Royal ladies have to be shaved, completely shaved. A stubble starts  growing on those royal heads, just when the Princesses start thinking of some garçon hairstyles to set the fashion in Brasil, the Royal Physician put a stop to all those dreams the entire scalp, he said, had to be bathed in pork fat mixed with antiseptic powder. Need I say more? Carlota Joaquina hated Brasil with every fibre of her being.

And then finally on 22nd of January 1808 the battered ships after a horrendous journey of around three months touched Salvador.
Carlota Joaquina and the princesses out of sheer necessity had covered their much abused heads with mile high turbans, you know the  Erykah Badu style, the elite at Salvador the ladies said, Their Royal Highnesses have turbans must be the style in Lisbon. Imagine how Carlota Joaquina must have felt to see her style imitated by the local elite. Warmed the cockles of her heart, I am sure. If you are the conqueror you set the style, remember how in the heat of May in India, ladies wore nylon stockings for weddings!

References: Laurentino Gomes (A Fuga da Família Real para o Brasil)

and Anibal de Almeida Fernandes