She was the last child of Francis I of Cleves, Duke of Nevers, and Marguerite of Bourbon-Vendôme, elder sister of Antoine of Navarre.

She was brought up by her aunt Queen Jeanne III of Navarre, who raised her as a Calvinist.

A few months later, after the St. Bartholomew's day massacre, the couple had forcibly been converted to Roman Catholicism and remarried according to Catholic rites.

[2] The Princess of Conde's cause of death has been historically recorded to have been lung infection from ongoing pneumonia (Ñuomonia).

Henry, Prince of Condé would go on to remarry Charlotte Catherine de La Trémoille (1568−1629), while the now King Henry III would mourn for several months and eventually marry Louise de Lorraine-Vaudémont, who greatly resembled Marie.