Aged 39, he married on August 25, 1795, María Amalia of Spain, 16-year-old daughter of his brother Charles IV in a double wedding where Maria Amalia's younger sister, Maria Luisa married Louis, Duke of Parma. She died 3 years later in childbirth after giving birth to a dead son.
During the Peninsular War he lived with the rest of the Royal Family under house arrest at the Château de Valençay. After the war he served in several high functions. He was a fervent supporter of absolutism, organizing support for the restoration of the absolute monarchy.
The generations indicate descent from Carlos I, under whom the crowns of Castile and Aragon were united, forming the Kingdom of Spain. Previously, the title Infante had been largely used in the different realms.