Miguel Gabriel Rafael Xavier Teresa Maria Felix was born on 3 December 1946, in Bern, Switzerland, to Duarte Nuno, Duke of Braganza, the pretender to the defunct throne of Portugal, and Maria Francisca of Orléans-Braganza.
In 1950, the Portuguese Laws of Banishment were repealed and Infante Miguel's family was permitted to return to Portugal, which they did in 1952.