Francisco de Paula was born at Toulouse, France, the third child of Infante Enrique of Spain and his morganatic wife, Elena María de Castellvi y Shelly, daughter of Antonio de Padua de Castellví y Fernández de Córdoba, Count of Castellá, and Margarita Shelly. His mother was of Valencian and Irish ancestry. His parents' marriage was not approved by Queen Isabella II, and they were married in secret in Rome. 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, Francis. 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 pretenderHenri, 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 in Santoña in 1898. In 1927, his cousin Alfonso XIII awarded him the Order of the Golden Fleece.
Marriage and family
In Havana, he met his first wife, María Luisa de La Torre y Bassave, daughter of José Maria de La Torre y Armenteros, a wealthy Cuban landowner. They married in Havana on 15 September 1882 but settled in Madrid, where four of their five children were born. They had five children:
Elena de Borbón y de la Torre, married in 1908 to José de Oltra y Fullana, had issue. Killed during the Spanish Civil War.
María Luisa de Borbón y de la Torre, married in 1904 to Diego González-Conde y García, Marquis de Villamantilla de Perales, had issue.
José María de Borbón y de la Torre, married in 1909 to Maria Luisa Rich y Carbajo, who was murdered by her husband in 1926. The case was silenced by the will of his cousin Alfonso XIII. They had issue.
María de los Dolores de Borbón y de la Torre, died unmarried.
After the death of María Luisa in 1887, Francisco de Paula married secondly on 15 February 1890 in Madrid to Felisa de León y Navarro de Balboa, from a noble family and also a native of Cuba. They had three children:
Enrique María de Borbón y de León, Marquis de Balboa, married in 1917 to Isabel de Esteban y Iranzo, Countess de Estaban, had issue. Killed during the Spanish Civil War.
Alfonso María de Borbón y León, Marquis de Squilache, married in 1925 to María Luisa de Caralt y Mas, had issue. Killed during the Spanish Civil War.
María de las Nieves Blanca de Borbón y León, married in 1929 to Luis de Figueroa y Alonso-Martinez, 2nd Count de Romanones, had issue.
Later years
After the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic, Francisco de Paula was able to stay in Spain, and he continued to reside in Madrid. However, after the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, he had to seek asylum at the Embassy of Chile in Madrid. Several of his descendants had worse luck – his children Elena, Enrique and Alfonso, and grandchildren María Luisa González-Conde y de Borbon, José Luis de Borbon y Rich and Jaime de Borbón y Esteban, were shot by the Spanish Republican Army.
