Alfonso XII
He was son of Isabella II of Spain. His biological paternity is uncertain, though his legal paternity is not: his mother was married to her (presumed) homosexual cousin Francis of Asissi de Bourbon, Infante, and king Consort of Spain, eldest son of the duke of Cadiz, at the time of Alfonso's conception and birth. Some theories says Alfonso's biological fathers might have been either Enrique Puig y Moltó, captain of the Royal Guard, or General Francisco Serrano.
When Queen Isabella and her husband were forced to leave Spain by the revolution of 1868, Alfonso accompanied them to Paris, and from there he was sent to the Theresianum at Vienna to continue his studies. On June 25, 1870 he was recalled to Paris, where his mother abdicated in his favour, in the presence of a number of Spanish nobles who had followed the fortunes of the exiled queen. He assumed the title of Alfonso XII; for although no king of united Spain had previously borne the name, the Spanish monarchy was regarded as continuous with the more ancient monarchy, represented by the eleven kings of León and Castile also named Alfonso. Shortly afterwards he proceeded to the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the United Kingdom, to continue his military studies, and while there he issued, on the December 1, 1874, in reply to a birthday greeting from his followers, a manifesto proclaiming himself the sole representative of the Spanish monarchy. At the end of the year, when Marshal Serrano left Madrid to take command of the northern army in the Carlist War, Brigadier Martinez Campos, who had long been working more or less openly for the king, carried off some battalions of the central army to Sagunto, rallied to his own flag the troops sent against him, and entered Valencia in the king's name. Thereupon the president of the council resigned, and the power was transferred to the king's plenipotentiary and adviser, Canovas del Castillo. In the course of a few days the king arrived at Madrid, passing through Barcelona and Valencia, and was received everywhere with acclamation (1875). In 1876 a vigorous campaign against the Carlists, in which the young king took part, resulted in the defeat of Don Carlos and his abandonment of the struggle.
On January 23, 1878 Alfonso married his cousin, Princess Maria de las Mercedes, daughter of the duc de Montpensier, but she died within six months of her marriage. Towards the end of the same year a young workman of Tarragona, Juan Oliva Moncasi, fired at the king in Madrid.