Dom Pedro had agreed that his daughter should marry Miguel, who was in 1827 appointed Regent.
Miguel, had he acted wisely, might have maintained himself on the throne, but Dom Pedro, who had been expelled from Brazil by a revolution, took active steps to recover the Portuguese throne for his daughter, and equipped an expedition for that end with English and French volunteers.

In this way, Donna Maria, who had spent part of her exile in England, and formed a friendship with the Princess Victoria, was through British instrumentality placed on her throne, but still could only maintain herself with difficulty against Miguel.

She was a few weeks older than the Princess Victoria, and had recently lost her first husband, the Duc de Leuchtenberg.

She was married by proxy on the 1st of January 1836, and in person on the 9th of April, to Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg.
There was also a disputed succession in Spain, where by the ancient law women might succeed to the throne.

Ferdinand VII., who had revoked the Pragmatic Sanction of 1711 and restored the former system, died in 1833, leaving no son.