Francisco de Paula was born in
Toulouse, France, the third child of
Infante Enrique of Spain (son of
Infante Francisco de Paula of Spain and
Princess Luisa Carlotta of the Two Sicilies) and his
morganatic wife,
Elena María de Castellví y Shelly (1821–1863), daughter of Antonio de Castellví y Fernández de Córdoba, Count of Castellá, and Margarita Shelly y McCarthy. His mother was of
Valencian and
Irish ancestry. His parents had married secretly in
Rome, as their union was not approved by
Queen Isabella II. Once they returned to Spain, the couple was exiled to
Bayonne, and they later settled in Toulouse. He had three brothers and one sister. His early years were spent between Spain and France. On 12 March 1870, his father challenged
Antoine, Duke of Montpensier, to a
duel. The duel ended in the shooting and death of his father. His brother
Enrique refused to accept the 30,000
pesetas that the Duke of Montepensier offered to pay as compensation for his act. He and his siblings were adopted by their uncle,
Francisco de Asís. Like his brothers, Francisco proved to have good military skills. Initially, he joined the
Carlist army, but after the
restoration of the monarchy, he joined the army of his cousin,
Alfonso XII, in 1875. That year, he was appointed brigadier general in the island of
Cuba, which at that time was still a colony of Spain. Francisco de Paula was known at the time to claim for himself the erstwhile
French throne, after the death in 1883 of the pretender
Henri, Count of Chambord. His claim caused numerous headaches for the queen regent,
Maria Christina, which resulted in two months of imprisonment for Francisco de Paula at
Santoña in 1898. His cousin
Alfonso XIII awarded him the
Order of the Golden Fleece in 1927. ==Marriage and family==