He then paved the way for the restoration of the monarchy and the accession of Isabel's son Alfonso XII, on which he spent much of his family fortune.

He also acted as mentor to prince Alfonso (the future Alfonso XIII) and José's wife, the Russian princess Sofía Troubetzkaya, built up support for the restoration socially among the Spanish nobility while José's friend Antonio Cánovas del Castillo consolidated support politically.

On Alfonso XII's death in 1885, José was disgraced before his widow Maria Christina of Austria and left the Spanish court.

He died aged 84 in his palace of Paseo de Recoletos on the thirty-fifth anniversary of the start of the restoration of the monarchy.

During his childhood he was a frequent visitor of the Royal Palace of Madrid together with his mother, who was a close friend of queen María Cristina and, after the death of the king and subsequent start of the First Carlist War, the family went into exile in Italy, settling in turn in Rome, Naples and Palermo.