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Ferdinand II 1816–85, king consort of Portugal (1837–53). The eldest son of Ferdinand, duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, he married Maria II (Maria da GlOria) of Portugal in 1836. After her death (1853), he was regent for his son, Peter V, until the latter's majority (1855). However, he left the actual government to ministers, while he occupied himself with his art collection. In 1862 he was offered and refused the Greek crown, and in 1869 he declined the Spanish crown because the Spanish leader Juan Prim could not guarantee future Portuguese independence.
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