The Most Serene Dom Filipe, uses the title granted by his Father, in 1997: Conde do Rio Grande (Count of), as well as the representation of General Francisco Barreto de Menezes, victorious restorer of Pernambuco, Brazil, in the celebrated Battles of Guararapes (1648/1649) against the Dutch, and definitively expelling them from Brazil (1654), etc., and to whom King Dom Dom Pedro II confered the title of Count of Rio Grande (1678); as of his son-in-law, Admiral Lopo Furtado de Mendóça, also by Jure Uxoris Count of Rio Grande (1689), Commander of the Armada that defeated the Turks in the Mediterranean, in the famous Battle of Cabo de Matapão (1717).
By letter dated July, 19, 1999, the Most Serene Dom Alberto, among other provisions, confirms his wish that His Son, Dom Filipe, shall “Restore the Old Order of Saint Sebastian, said of the Arrow, as Representative of a branch of Our House that is in the first line of the Crown Succession of Portugal; (…) Also allowing Him to “restore other former Orders, founded by Our Ancestors the Kings of Portugal, which are not in force at the moment, as well as to institute other bodies necessary for the safeguarding and defense of the rights of Our House, thus preserving the memory of Our Family and Our Ancestors”. This document clarifies any doubt about the legitimacy of the“ Fons Honorum “[1]], which underlies the rights exercised since then by the Most Serene Dom Filipe, Count of Rio Grande, as Governor and Administrator of the Dynastic (and Honorary) Orders of His House, namely the Royal Order of the Trinity and the Military Order of San Sebastian, said of the Arrow.
The Most Serene Dom Filipe was awarded with several Orders (National and Foreign), namely the Sacred and Military Order of St. George (Royal House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, in the category of Bailif Grand Cross of Justice)and Knight of Honour and Devotion, of The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM)
[1] James J. Algrant y Cañete, El “Fons Honorum”, Revista do Colégio Heráldico de España y de las Indias, CHE=I, Madrid (Janeiro de 1994), pp. 65-78.
Casa de S.A. o Sereníssimo Senhor D. Filipe, Conde do Rio Grande 