Don Maximiliano is the undisputed head of the imperial house of Mexico and would be Emperor if Mexico were still a monarchy.  He is the undisputed heir to both the Iturbide and Habsburg traditions. He has served in his role as head of the imperial house for more than 50 years, but does not participate in any political function or make any pretensions whatsoever. He sees his role solely as that of guardian of the Iturbide and Habsburg tradition and its history in Mexico.

Don Maximiliano is fluent in Spanish, German and English. He lives in Spain, where he farms and breeds horses. Even in retirement, he remains an active sportsman, riding most days and skiing in winter.

After fleeing Hungary shortly after World War II, the family became refugees and lived for short periods in Italy, Germany and later in Venezuela where his father died in 1956. His father, Don Gustavo, was a breeder and trainer of racehorses in Hungary. 

Don Maximiliano married Doña Maria Anna de Francechi in 1990. They have two children, the heir Don Fernando, born in 1992, and Doña Isabela Emanuela, born in 1997. Don Fernando is a successful businessman specialising in IT companies. Doña Isabela is single and lives in the Netherlands. 

Don Maximiliano was educated at Hawtreys and Beaumont College and then studied as an apprentice and eleve in The Spanish Riding school and later at the Academy of Art in Vienna. He has worked as a stockbroker for Drexel Burnham Lambert in New York and Morgan Grenfell Laurie in London. From 1990 to 1994 he worked as assistant trainer to Zakariás Aperianov, the most successful racehorse trainer in Hungarian history. He himself participated in several steeplechase races, but by his own admission, with rather mixed results. ‘My biggest problem was trying to maintain the necessary weight, which I found almost impossible to do”.