His mother having died in childbirth, he was brought up by his step-mother, Maria Dorothea von Wuerttemberg. Very talented he spent his childhood in Ofen (Buda) and at the family farm in Alscut and received an excellent education. He was mainly interested in  'Staatswissenschaft', which he also studied later in Vienna. 
The years 1839 till 1841 he spent at the court in Vienna. In 1841 he travelled through different countries of the monarchy, Bohemia, Lombardy and Venice, as well as Tyrol, Piemont, the papal states, Modena and Tuscany. In 1843 the Emperor appointed him 'Landeschef' of Bohemia. He remained there until, in January 1847, his father died and he was recommended to be the next Palatine of Hungary. 
 

Source: Leo van de Pas