An Invitation · Lisbon · MMXXVI
Mademoiselle Alice
is most warmly anticipated
Inês requests the pleasure of your company at an afternoon reception in celebration of her daughter's forthcoming arrival.
Until the Reception
Programme
The Particulars
- The Day
- Saturday, 12 September 2026
- The Hour
- Five o'clock in the afternoon
- The Setting
- Hotel Altis BelémLisbon, Portugal
- Attire
- Garden formal · soft, refined huesA ladies-only reception
Quatre Surprises
With Compliments
Four small envelopes, each holding a private courtesy. You are invited to open them as you please.
A Letter, Sealed
An intimate note for Alice
“Dearest Alice. Your story has not yet begun, and already it is the most cherished. You are awaited with quiet joy.”
A Parlour Riddle
An old game, gently posed
“I arrive with no possessions, speak no language, and yet from the very first hour, I shall be the centre of every room I enter. What am I?”
A Genteel Wager
On the matter of Alice's weight
Place your prediction. The closest guess shall be remembered.
Une Petite Joie
A small flourish of celebration
Voilà. A little gold confetti, scattered in her honour.
Portraits
The Family in Repose
Inês & Alice
A mother in bloom, holding the dawn of her dearest creation.
Ricardo
The gentleman of the house, bearing his finest summer poise.
Inês & Avó Laurinda
Four generations meet in a single embrace, the great-grandmother's hand resting where Alice quietly grows.
Mário & Paula
The grandparents, capturing a moment of quiet affection before the great arrival.
Avô Domingos & Avó Manuela
At the table, the warmth of a home that has long awaited a new little voice.
The Monkeys
Alice's cousins and uncles, ever mischievous, ever tender, gathered around the table.
Uncle Vasco
Uncle Vasco, arriving with his easy charm and a glance full of promise for the days to come.
Family & Friends
Long tables, slow afternoons, the wide circle that already keeps a place for Alice.
Around the Table
Family gathered for Avó Laurinda's 99th birthday, a lifetime celebrated around one table.
One Line of Descent
Alice
Alice Assis Ferreira dos Santos Silva
b. 2026 · daughter of Inês & Ricardo
Twenty-six documented generations carry her mother's line from Alice back to D. Afonso Henriques, first King of Portugal.
26 generations before Alice
c. 1109 – 1185
Afonso Henriques†
First King of Portugal
Mafalda of Savoy
Founder of Portugal · reigned 1139–1185
A small indiscretion
Founded Portugal by going to war against his own mother. At the Battle of São Mamede (1128) he defeated Teresa of León, the woman who bore him, and had her imprisoned. The founding father's first act was beating up his mum.
25 generations before Alice
1154 – 1211
Sancho I†
King of Portugal
Dulce of Aragon
A small indiscretion
Known as 'the Populator'. Officially for refounding towns after the Reconquista. Unofficially, the name fits a man who scattered a great many legitimate and illegitimate children across the kingdom.
24 generations before Alice
1185 – 1223
Afonso II
King of Portugal
Urraca, infanta of Castile
A small indiscretion
His royal nickname was, plainly, 'the Fat' (o Gordo). Medieval Portugal did not do flattering epithets. He also got himself and the entire kingdom excommunicated, and spent years at war with his own sisters over their father's will.
23 generations before Alice
1210 – 1279
Afonso III
King of Portugal
Maria Peres de Enxara
A small indiscretion
A bigamist king. Already married to the Countess of Boulogne, he married Beatrice of Castile anyway, earning a fresh excommunication, and only sorted it out once the first wife conveniently died. He had also turned up in Portugal in the first place to overthrow his own brother, the reigning king.
22 generations before Alice
c. 1250 – c. 1315
D. Afonso Dinis
D. Maria Pais Ribeira
natural son of King Afonso III
A small indiscretion
The line to the crown runs through a love-child. The thread passes through D. Afonso Dinis, natural (illegitimate) son of King Afonso III. So Alice's blood reaches the throne through a king's mistress, not his queen.
21 generations before Alice
c. 1295 – c. 1355
Diogo Afonso de Sousa
Lord of Mafra and Ericeira
D. Violante Lopes Pacheco
20 generations before Alice
c. 1330 – 1365
Álvaro Dias de Sousa
Lord of Mafra and Ericeira
D. Maria Teles de Menezes
19 generations before Alice
c. 1352 – 1417
Lopo Dias de Sousa
Lord of Mafra, Ericeira and Enxara dos Cavaleiros · Master of the Order of Christ
Maria Ribeiro
A small indiscretion
Ran a crusading order at about twelve years old. He was made Master of the Order of Christ, the order that, generations later, would bankroll the Age of Discoveries, for the simple reason that his aunt happened to be the Queen.
18 generations before Alice
c. 1385 – c. 1450
Aldonça de Sousa
Pedro Gomes de Abreu, 3rd Lord of Regalados
17 generations before Alice
b. c. 1415
Mendo Gomes de Abreu
N., name not recorded
16 generations before Alice
b. c. 1450
Luís Mendes de Abreu
N., name not recorded
15 generations before Alice
b. c. 1485
Lourenço Mendes de Abreu
Brites Fialho
14 generations before Alice
b. c. 1520
Antão Mendes de Abreu
Brites Baleeiro Castelo Branco
13 generations before Alice
b. c. 1560
Lourenço Mendes de Abreu
Ana Gomes Veiga
12 generations before Alice
b. c. 1595
Miguel Mendes de Abreu
Maria da Fonseca
11 generations before Alice
b. c. 1630
João Mendes de Abreu
Mariana Varela
10 generations before Alice
b. c. 1665
Francisco Mendes de Abreu
Antónia de Amorim Pessoa de Gouveia
9 generations before Alice
b. c. 1700
Francisco António de Abreu de Amorim Pessoa
Catarina Joaquina Maurícia de Macedo Pimentel
8 generations before Alice
b. c. 1735
Alberto de Sá de Abreu Pessoa de Amorim
Luísa Maria Felizarda da Luz Coutinho
7 generations before Alice
b. c. 1770
Ana de Abreu Pessoa de Amorim Pacheco
José António Ribeiro de Carvalho
6 generations before Alice
b. 1807
Antonino Ribeiro de Carvalho Pessoa de Amorim Pacheco
1st Viscount of Sarzedo
Maria Máxima Homem Freire de Andrade de Figueiredo
A small indiscretion
The grand title was a small-town judge's life. A law graduate, royal magistrate in Elvas, substitute judge in Arganil, and twice mayor of Arganil (1856–57, 1866–67). The viscountcy itself was granted by decree of 14 April 1868 for his lifetime only, and died with him. He even got his coat of arms for free, dues waived for services to the country. A nobleman who did not pay for his own heraldry.
5 generations before Alice
b. 1843
José Ribeiro Freire de Amorim Pacheco
Maria Cândida Nunes
4 generations before Alice
b. c. 1882
Maria Máxima Ribeiro Amorim Pacheco Figueiredo
Alberto César das Neves
3 generations before Alice
b. c. 1918
Maria Alice Amorim Neves
Mário de Assis Ferreira
Alice's great-grandmother. The first Alice.
A small indiscretion
The women of this line are drowning in Marias. Maria Máxima, Maria Cândida, Maria Ribeiro, all the way up to the queens Maria Pais Ribeira and Maria Teles de Menezes. Baby Alice breaks the spell with a first name that is not Maria, yet still reaches back and clasps hands with Maria Alice, her great-grandmother.
2 generations before Alice
b. 1944
Mário Alberto Neves Assis Ferreira
Ana Paula Santos
1 generation before Alice
b. 1993
Inês Santos de Assis Ferreira
Ricardo Jorge dos Santos Silva (b. 1978)
The Present
Alice
Alice Assis Ferreira dos Santos Silva
b. 2026 · the twenty-sixth generation from D. Afonso Henriques
- A crowned crimson node marks a reigning King of Portugal; the largest is Afonso Henriques, the founder.
- A gold node marks a bearer of title or honour.
- The solid thread is documented bloodline; it passes through the carrier of each generation. A hollow node marks a generation carried by a woman.
On the dates. Firm where the record allows: the four kings, the Viscount of Sarzedo (b. 1807), and the Sousa lords from the genealogical sources. Only the direct-line ancestors are dated; consorts share each generation's era unless a date is known.