Louis was born at Palacio del Buen Retiro, in Madrid[1] as the eldest son of the reigning King Philip V of Spain and his wife Maria Luisa Gabriella of Savoy.

[4] Louis ruled for a short period between the time his father Philip V abdicated in his favour (14 January 1724) and his death from smallpox, just over seven months.

According to Vicente Bacallar, Marquis de San Felipe, he was "extremely liberal, magnanimous and into making people to feel comfortable next to him".

[9] Other contemporaries allegedly pointed out that Louis had inherited his father's intelligence and charm and his mother's morality and submission.

[10] Historians believe that Lacotte, who was Louis' servant and who had a reputation of being a pedophile, was sent into the Spanish royal court to seduce the prince, whose impotence was known.

[11] W. Clarke writes: "the Spanish heir was as into boys as girls during the parties that he had, playing erotic games with both sexes"; a line about Louis' sexual life was sung across streets of Madrid: "Fiery as his mother, lascivious as his father, flaming as his stepmother and onanist as a pedophile".