Born at the
Royal Palace of Madrid on 23 June 1862, Infanta Paz was the third surviving daughter of
Queen Isabella II and
King Francisco. At age sixteen, Isabella was forced to marry Francisco, her
double first cousin. The Queen despised her effeminate husband, and found an outlet for her passionate nature with a string of lovers. The relationship between King Francisco and his reputed children was cold and formal. Isabella II, preoccupied with her turbulent reign and her private life, alternated between periods of great affection towards her children and the distant approach to childhood that was the custom of the time. According to historians, the true biological father of Infanta Paz was the diplomat and politician Miguel Tenorio de Castilla (1818–1916), who was secretary of Queen Isabella II for several years. Infanta Paz probably also suspected that Tenorio de Castilla was her natural father. In 1890, in his old age, Tenorio de Castilla settled in a suite on the south wing of
Nymphenburg Palace, Paz’s residence. He lived there for twenty-six years until his death on 11 December 1916. Infanta Paz was baptized by the archbishop of Toledo with the names
María de la Paz Juana Amelia Adalberta Francisca de Paula Juana Bautista Isabel Francisca de Asís. Her godmother was her paternal aunt
Infanta Amalia of Spain, Princess of Bavaria. In her first years, Infanta Paz was raised alongside her sisters Infantas
Pilar and
Eulalia in a wing of the
Royal Palace of Madrid. In the formal atmosphere of the Spanish court, the little infantas had little contact with their parents. In 1868, when she was only six years old, Paz and her family were forced to leave Spain by the revolution (the "
Glorious Revolution") that cost Queen Isabella II her throne. The royal family was at that time in
San Sebastián, and on 30 September 1868, they crossed the border and went to live in exile in France. Isabella II settled in
Paris with her children, while King Francisco went to live separately in
Épinay. Paz was educated with her sisters Pilar and Eulalia at the Sacré-Coeur, a Catholic school run by nuns. She received her
first communion in Rome from
Pope Pius IX. In 1874, Paz’s brother King
Alfonso XII was restored to the throne in place of their mother Queen Isabella II. Three years later, Paz returned to Spain with her sisters Pilar and Eulalia. She lived at first in
El Escorial with her mother, but later moved to the
Alcázar of Seville. When Isabella II returned to live permanently in Paris, Paz and her sisters moved to the Royal Palace of Madrid with their brother King
Alfonso XII. The education and care of the three young infantas was placed under the supervision of their eldest sister Infanta
Isabel. Paz was particularly close to her sister Pilar, who was only one year older. In 1879, Pilar, who was of delicate health, died suddenly while the sisters were in the small town of
Eskoriatza. Paz, who was seventeen at the time, was deeply affected by the death of her sister. Of Queen Isabella’s five children to survive infancy, Paz was the one who resembled their mother most closely. Paz was short and plain with a small upward nose and a mischievous look in her small eyes. Unlike her sisters Isabel and Eulalia, Paz did not have a strong personality. She was uncomplicated, friendly and accommodating. Romantic and artistic, she was very fond of writing poems and was also a skillful painter. As a child, she studied the history of Spain, and she always remained interested in this subject. In later years, she wrote articles published in the newspaper
ABC. She was also musical; she played the
harp, and enjoyed songs by
Paolo Tosti, as well as the operas of
Giuseppe Verdi and
Charles Gounod. She was also a devoted Catholic. == Marriage ==