[1] She was the penultimate child and third daughter of King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria and Princess Augusta Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt.

She was the fourth child and third daughter of Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria and his wife, Princess Augusta Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt.

[citation needed] The couple never bonded with each other and the marriage was finally annulled by Pope Pius VII to enable both of them to make remarriages that were valid in the Catholic Church.

After the annulment of her marriage, Caroline Augusta was considered as a bride for both the Emperor Francis I and his younger brother, Ferdinand.

Later, Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany withdrew his proposal and Caroline Augusta became the emperor's bride.

The English diplomat Frederick Lamb called the new empress "ugly, clever and amiable," and the emperor her husband had this to say of her: "She can stand a push, the other was nothing but air.