Born in Rome, he was the son of Emanuele Ruspoli, 1st Prince of Poggio Suasa and third wife Josephine Mary Beers-Curtis.

[1] Through the good offices of his friend Robert Hugh Benson, Virgo arranged for Francesco and his young brother to attend Eton College.

Francesco was at Eton (where the boys called him 'Frank Ruspoli') from September 1904 to December 1909, in R S de Havilland's house.

Partly through the agency of Eustace Virgo, Francesco was once offered the throne of Albania.

He married in Rome, January 27, 1920 Josepha Giuseppina Pia dei Conti di Brazzà-Cergneu-Savorgnan (Reggio Emilia, September 27, 1898 – Fregene, April 29, 1992),[2] Nobile Romana and Patrizia Sabina, by whom he had an only son: