Her father was George I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen; and her mother was Luise Eleonore, daughter of Prince Christian of Hohenlohe-Langenburg.

Her siblings were Adelaide (who became Queen consort of the United Kingdom and of Hanover as wife of King William IV of the United Kingdom) and Bernhard II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen, with whom she maintained a close relationship.

In Meiningen on 30 May 1816 she married Prince Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, who served as a General in the Netherlands and she followed him in his various garrison cities during the following years; however, during the summer she lived in Liebenstein and Altenstein Palace, where she also remained when her husband made his North American tour.

In 1830 she and her children participated in the coronation of her sister and brother-in-law in London, and from 1836 she moved to Liebenstein as her permanent summer residence.

Two years later, in 1854, her brother Bernhard II erected the called Ida monument at the now ruined Burg Liebenstein.