[1] She was the eldest daughter of Victor Emmanuel, Duke of Aosta, and his wife Maria Teresa of Austria-Este.

Her maternal grandparents were Ferdinand Karl, Archduke of Austria-Este and Maria Beatrice d'Este, Duchess of Massa.

In December 1798, Maria Beatrice left Turin with her parents and uncles to escape the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.

[citation needed] On 20 June 1812, Maria Beatrice married her maternal uncle Francis, Archduke of Austria-Este.

[citation needed] The couple left Sardinia on 15 July 1813 for Zakynthos, and then sailed to Trieste off the east shore of Adriatic Sea, finally reaching Vienna by land.