After his death in 1650, her mother, Geronima Mazzarini, brought her daughters from Rome to Paris in the hope of using the influence of her brother, Cardinal Mazarin, to gain them advantageous marriages.

"Dark, vivacious and beautiful,"[1] Marie captured the biggest prize of the French court: the romantic love of Louis XIV.

Two days later, unexpected visitors arrived: the Nuncio, the Almirante, and the minister of justice Don García de Medrano, representing the royal council and the chamber of Castile, came to persuade her, on behalf of the king, to return to the convent.

The Almirante conveyed the king's will, the Nuncio aimed to facilitate its execution, and the minister of justice García de Medrano warned her of potential consequences if she resisted; "he had orders to take me away, and that should I refuse to consent, he would not leave my person and would keep me under very tight guard".

She died in Pisa in May 1715 aged 75, little over 3 months before the death of Louis XIV in September that year, and is buried in the church of the Holy Sepulchre there.

Marie plays an active role in Letitia Elizabeth Landon's novel, Francesca Carrara, although her life following her encounters with Louis XIV is mainly fictional.

The character of Marie Mancini appears in the French musical Le Roi Soleil, where she was played by Anne-Laure Girbal.