Enrique was born at Toulouse, France, the first 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. Enrique refused to accept the 30,000 pesetas that the Duke of Montepensier offered to pay as compensation. He and his siblings were adopted by their uncle, Francis. Like his brothers, Enrique proved to have good military skills. Initially, they joined the Carlist army, but after the restoration of the monarchy, he joined the army of his cousin, Alfonso XII. Enrique, also a friend of Alfonso XII, did not always maintain a good relationship with the latter's widow, Queen Maria Christina, for opposing the appointment of Maria Christina as Regent of Spain. For his attitude, he was imprisoned and deprived of his rank, but he managed to escape to Marseille and thereafter refused to return to Madrid. Years later, he was rehabilitated and able to return to Spain, but uncomfortable with his position at court, he was sent to the Spanish East Indies as governor of Tayabas Province.
Marriage and family
During the exile of his family, he met Joséphine Parade, daughter of Jean Parade. They married in San Fernando de Jarama on 5 November 1870. They had three daughters:
was the 3rd Duchess of Seville. Born two years before her parents' marriage, she always experienced the stigma of illegitimacy. Her mother asked, after the death of Enrique, for the exclusion of María Luisa from the succession to the dukedom. She married in London in 1894 with a Catalan, Juan Monclus y Cabanellas, and returned to Spain. In 1919 she ceded, under pressure, the title to her youngest sister Enriqueta. She had no issue.
Marta de Borbón y Parade died unmarried and without issue, but it is said that a marriage was suggested between her and a prince of the House of Orléans, which her father hated. He strongly opposed the union because the Duke of Montpensier had killed his father in a duel in 1870.
