Brazil’s monarchy is gone but not forgotten

When celebrating milestone anniversaries, Brazil has an odd habit. In 1921, ahead of its centenary, it brought home the corpse of its last emperor, Pedro II. At 150 years it summoned the body of his father, Pedro I: for five months the military regime of the day lugged his coffin around the country in a cortege. Given that independent Brazil had just two monarchs, you might assume that no remains remain to be flown in for the country’s bicentenary on September 7th. Not so. On August 22nd Brazil will receive from Portugal, with full military honours, a glass jar filled with formaldehyde. Floating inside is a gory grey tentacular blob: Pedro I’s heart.