Mercedes made her first public appearance at the royal court by the hand of her mother when Queen Maria Christina was declared regent. The education of the Princess of Asturias and her younger sister Infanta Maria Teresa was confined to the Royal Palace of Madrid in an austere environment headed by two widows: their mother and their paternal aunt Isabella (herself formerly Princess of Asturias). The Queen brought up her three children strictly. Despite her constitutional status, Mercedes was not given an education that would have prepared her to govern the nation. She received instead the conventional upbringing of princesses of her time. There were piano and painting lessons, knitting practices and the Queen involved her daughter in palace duties. Particular attention was paid to obedience and religious precepts.