[1] From the beginning, the union was completely unhappy: while the 14-year-old bride resented the fact to be married with a man old enough to be her father, the 50-year-old groom contracted this marriage with the sole purpose of saving the Della Rovere family from extinction and preserving the independence of the Duchy of Urbino; in consequence, he never showed any tenderness or affection to Livia, who was also little attracted to her old husband.

[5] The disgrace of both her father Ippolito and uncle Cardinal Giuliano isolated the Duchess, and with the death of her mother-in-law Vittoria Farnese (who had convinced her son to marry Livia) on 13 December 1602 she lost her only support.

The arrival of her daughter-in-law at court and the birth of her granddaughter, Vittoria Feltria on 7 February 1622 was a source of great joy for the Duchess, who began to spend some time with her son and his family between Pesaro and Urbino.

In October, Claudia and her daughter Vittoria moved to the Medici court, leaving Livia devastated by the loss of her beloved granddaughter and alone with her elderly and almost paralyzed husband,[1] who after the death of their son assumed the Ducal title once more.

The fate of the Duchy of Urbino was sealed and Pope Urban VIII gave her as modest compensation the towns of Rocca Contrada (now Arcevia) and Corinaldo, to which were added later Gradara and San Lorenzo in Campo, the former estates of her father.

The only exception to her isolation was the wedding of Vittoria (heiress to all of the allodial property of the Della Rovere family, which included art and funds of the Duchy[9][10]) with Ferdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1637.

She was buried in the Corpus Domini convent of Pesaro (where her sister and namesake Livia was Abbess), according to her will preserved in the parish archives documenteds of Castelleone:[12] Owner of a huge amount of artistic works and the wealth accumulated over the years by the Ducal family, she appointed her granddaughter Vittoria della Rovere as her sole heiress.