Auguste Charles Eugène Napoléon de Beauharnais, Duke of Leuchtenberg (9 December 1810 – 28 March 1835) was the first prince consort of Maria II of Portugal. Besides being the 2nd Duke of Leuchtenberg and 2nd Prince of Eichstätt, he also held the Brazilian noble title of Duke of Santa Cruz.
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Family
Being born in Milan, Lombardy, Auguste was the eldest son of Eugène de Beauharnais, Napoleon I's stepson, and Princess Augusta of Bavaria. His dynastic connections were exceptional, considering his paternal lineage: among his sisters were Joséphine, Queen consort of Oscar I of Sweden, and Amélie, Empress consort of his future father-in-law Pedro I of Brazil. Later, his brother Maximilian would wed Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia, eldest daughter of Tsar Nicholas I.
Duke of Leuchtenberg
His maternal grandfather, King Maximilian I of Bavaria, had given Eugène the title "Duke of Leuchtenberg" on 14 November 1817, after the loss in 1815 of his Napoleonic titles and the associated expectancies of the Kingdom of Italy and the Grand Duchy of Frankfurt. Despite the promise of an independent principality inserted into the final treaty, the Congress of Vienna adjourned without creating a state for Eugène, so Auguste and his siblings had no inheritance. To the empty Leuchtenberg ducal title had been added the estate of Eichstätt in dowry, made a nominal principality, also by King Maximilian. Eugène's eldest son Auguste was heir to this modest property, which he inherited when Eugène died on 21 February 1824.



