Married in 1766 to Prince Albert of Saxony, the couple received the Duchy of Teschen, and she was appointed Governor of the Austrian Netherlands jointly with her husband during 1781–1789 and 1791–1792.

In a letter dated 22 March 1747 the Prussian ambassador in Vienna, Count Otto Christoph von Podewils, described the then five-year-old Maria Christina as pretty and witty.

That notorious preference that Maria Christina received from her mother caused the intense jealousy of her brothers and sisters, who avoided her and criticized her prominent position within the family more and more vehemently.

In the following years, Maria Christina developed an intense love affair[2] with Princess Isabella of Parma, who married the future Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor on 6 October 1760.

The beautiful, educated, and very sensitive Isabella, who detested the court ceremonial and her position as wife of the Habsburg heir, wanted a more sensual destiny; however, despite these inner feelings, she appeared to be cheerful and satisfied with her fate.

The early demise of her sister-in-law (who was more and more inclined to melancholy and a growing obsession with death) on 27 November 1763 following childbirth complications, left Maria Christina heartbroken.

He had become a good friend of the late Isabella after her marriage with the future Joseph II and, as he noted in his diary, also developed a close relationship with Maria Christina.

After these visits, Maria Christina fell deeply in love with Albert, who, despite his affection for the Archduchess, did not believe that he could win her hand in marriage because of his relatively weak and politically unstable position for the imperial standards.

[7] In July 1765, the Imperial family travelled to Innsbruck for the wedding of Archduke Leopold, Grand Prince of Tuscany, with Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain; Albert also participated in the celebrations.

The Imperial family was badly affected by this death, including Maria Christina, whose marriage plans were now no longer a hindrance since her mother had long been on her side.

In consequence, she was the only daughter of Maria Theresa who didn't marry for political reasons; however, out of respect for the Emperor's death, a period of mourning had to be observed first before her wedding could take place.

Finally, Maria Christina received a rich dowry: the Silesian Duchy of Teschen –whereupon Albert became entitled as Duke of Saxe-Teschen–, the towns of Mannersdorf, Ungarisch Altenburg and other lordships, and the amount of ƒ100,000.

Since Maria Christina was unable to have any more children due to her difficult childbirth, in 1790 she persuaded her brother Leopold, Grand Duke of Tuscany, to let her and her husband adopt one of his youngest sons, Archduke Charles, in order to have an heir.

[11] Even before the appointment of her sister and brother-in-law, Joseph II (who for seven weeks strictly controlled the Austrian Netherlands) found the administration and internal conditions to be negative and decided to carry out profound reforms.

He discussed his plans with his ministers and leading officials, and the joint governors were only to execute the orders and sign the decrees issued by the Emperor through the advisers he appointed to them.

[13] The Emperor, who lacked a clear understanding of the situation of the Austrian Netherlands, imposed drastic reforms especially in the field of education, which caused a lot of resistance and the loss of the Catholic Church's position in November 1781, and in March 1783 different monasteries were abolished.

Due to the visit, Joseph II ordered the presentation of the operas Der Schauspieldirektor of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Prima la musica e poi le parole of Antonio Salieri on 7 February 1786 in a private performance at Schönbrunn Palace.

In the Palace of Versailles she met her sister Queen Marie Antoinette (with whom she had a cold relationship), and the Imperial ambassador of France, Florimond Claude, Comte de Mercy-Argenteau.

[16] In 1787, Maria Christina and Albert were forced to introduce the radical Josephine Reforms in the Austrian Netherlands, which included a far-reaching modification of the central government institutions there, a transformation of the provincial division which was equivalent to the dissolution of the existing provinces, and a reorganization of the judicial organization.

[17] Against the Imperial reforms were mainly formed two opposition groups: first, the Statists, led by Hendrik Van der Noot, who was supported by numerous nobles and clerics, and wanted to retain the traditional relationship with the Habsburgs, and on the other hand the Vonckists, named after their leader Jan Frans Vonck, who wanted a democratic rule with elections by means of the census voting right.

On 30 May 1787, a mob, who demanded that Belgiojoso be removed from power, broke into her residence in Brussels and forced Maria Christina and Albert to retract the Imperial decree.

Maria Christina described it to her brother: "People thronging in thousands, with their hat blazoned with the arms of Brabant, made it a day of terror - all the more so as we had certain information that it was intended to begin that very evening the pillage of the royal and ecclesiastical treasuries, that the minister and those members of the Government who were in ill odour [sic] were to be put to death, and complete independence declared.

In April 1788, they officially warned the Emperor that the apparent tranquility in the country was only external and that fear and disharmony prevailed, but assured that they had contributed with their best to restoring confidence.

[19][20] During the summer of 1789, rebellions arose in the Austrian Netherlands inspired by the French Revolution, aimed by a secret society called Pro aris et focis which sought for the formation of a patriotic army.

On 18 November, the joint governors, though reluctant, had to flee; after a journey through Luxembourg, Trier and Koblenz they arrived to Bonn at the side of Maria Christina's youngest brother Archduke Maximilian Francis, Archbishop-Elector of Cologne, staying a long time in the Poppelsdorf Palace.

Maria Christina and Albert (who after their stay in Bonn moved firstly to Frankfurt, then to Vienna and finally in Dresden), returned to Brussels on 15 June 1791 as joint governors.

When the royal party was arrested near the border and escorted back to Paris, the brothers of Louis XVI, the counts of Provence and Artois, appeared in Brussels and asked Maria Christina to make a military intervention and send troops across the border to France and apprehend the royal party before they reached Paris, but Maria Christina refused, stating that she would need the emperor's permission to perform such an act, by which time it would already be too late.

[21] Maria Christina and Albert this time had more actual power than what Joseph II had allowed them, although after the Brabant Revolution they turned to a more authoritarian rule.

In the ornaments of this tomb, a work of the famous neoclassical sculptor Antonio Canova, was notably seen that not a single Christian symbol is displayed but several Freemasons motifs are shown.

In a book published in 1805 by Van de Vivere, which deals with the tomb of Canova and is also available in a German translation of the same year, it is clearly shown that the grave monument has arisen out of the Christian thought, although the impact of Enlightenment is noticeable.