The family of Díaz Aguado has been related to Navarre and in the early 19th century many of its males served in army; during the First Carlist War Estebán Díaz Aguado Alonso sided with the and gained his name accepting surrender of the ; until the 1860s he commanded the Navarrese artillery corps. The next generation demonstrated opposite preferences and joined the legitimists. One, also an artillery man, declared himself a Carlist "until the last drop of blood". The father of Rafael, Felix Díaz Aguado Pérez (born 1834), served in artillery as well; gained honors and promotions for gallant performance during the war in Morocco in 1858-1860 before in 1867 and already as comandante he joined Carlist conspiracy in the Pamplona garrison. The plot was detected and a rising, planned for July 1868, was thwarted by a pre-emptive strike. Díaz Aguado was of the few who avoided incarceration and managed to flee; following a spell on exile he returned and sought amnesty, yet in 1872 he joined the Carlists again. He was recorded for brave stand in hand-to-hand combat during the battle of , later serving as liaison officer at Estado Mayor. After the war he settled at unspecified location as a retired officer.