Anna Charlotte Amalia was the only daughter of Johan Willem Friso of Nassau-Dietz (after 1702 Prince of Orange) and his wife, Landgravine Marie Louise of Hesse-Kassel.

During her pregnancies, Amalia tyrannized her servants, and because of the princess's many tantrums,[2] rumors circulated at the court of Durlach that she was mentally ill.[citation needed] Friedrich died on 26 March 1732, shortly after the birth of their second child.

[2][1] As further evidence of her alleged mental illness, it was charged that she shed no tears at the sight of her husband's corpse.

Her father-in-law, Margrave Karl III Wilhelm, did not want Amalia influencing the new crown prince Karl Friedrich;[citation needed] though mother and son continued to live in Karlsburg Castle in Durlach, Amalia lived the rest of her life in a separate apartment in the castle, shielded from the outside world.

The education of her two sons, Karl Friedrich and Wilhelm Ludwig, was taken over by her mother-in-law, Magdalena Wilhelmine of Württemberg.