[1] He was the eldest son of the Asturian politician and academic Pedro José Pidal y Carniado and Manuela Mon y Menéndez.

He fiercely resisted the Glorious Revolution of 1868 and accompanied the new King Alfonso XII on his journey from England, in order to take possession of the new crown after the Bourbon Restoration in 1874.

[2] In 1887 he entered the Royal Academy of Moral and Political Sciences (medal 32) replacing Antonio de los Ríos Rosas.

[3] In 1884 he was appointed Academician of the Royal Spanish Academy, although he did not take office until 1895 with the speech El drama histórico.

[4] He was Spanish Ambassador to the Holy See in 1890 and appointed Minister of Public Works during the first term of Francisco Silvela in March 1899.