Emmanuel Philibert was the son of the late Thomas Francis, Prince of Carignano and his French born wife, the domineering Marie de Bourbon.

A proxy ceremony took place in Modena,[3] in which her unmarried brother Caesare Ignace d'Este acted as her husband to be.

[3] A private ceremony took place on 10 November 1684 at the Castle of Racconigi, the summer residence of the Princes of Carignano; the bride being 28 and the groom 56.

This wedding was important to the House of Savoy, but very poorly viewed by the kingdom of France for its lack of political connection.

Their youngest child, Thomas Philippe, died young and unmarried: Media related to Maria Angela Caterina d'Este at Wikimedia Commons