Antonio Cánovas del Castillo was a Spanish politician and historian known principally for serving six terms as Prime Minister and his overarching role as "architect" of the regime that ensued with the 1874 restoration of the Bourbon monarchy. He died in office at the hands of an anarchist, Michele Angiolillo.

The Manifesto of Sandhurst or Sandhurst Manifesto was a political manifesto signed by the then Prince Alfonso de Borbón, while he was in exile studying at the British Royal Military Academy of Sandhurst, hence the name by which it was known. It was made public on December 1, 1874, three days after the prince had turned seventeen, and was carefully drafted by Antonio Cánovas del Castillo, the leader of Alfonsism within Spain. Cánovas' aim was "that it be understood already that Spain has a king, capable of wielding the scepter as soon as he is called", as he wrote to the former sovereign, Isabel II.