Her younger sister, Henriette Adelaide of Savoy married in 1650 to Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria.

Margherita Violante was in competition with the Spanish court who had presented the Infanta Maria Teresa of Austria as another proposed bride.

Maria Teresa's father Philip IV of Spain was also the brother of Anne of Austria, mother of Louis XIV and was eager to bring about peace between France and Spain with the marriage of Louis and Maria Teresa.

The French entourage included the Dowager Queen, Louis XIV, Philippe d'Anjou, la Grande Mademoiselle and Marie Mancini.

Prior to the proposed Franco-Savoyard match, Antoine Pimentel marquis de Tábara, Spanish ambassador had had secret talks with Cardinal Mazarin which later led the French to say to the Savoyard's ...the Savoyard marriage is not for the King of France, Philip IV King of Spain proposes his daughter, the Infanta Maria Teresa who has all the qualities of being the wife of Louis XIV...[2] The match, great for Savoy, was never to be; Louis XIV married Maria Teresa, the two were the parents of le Grand Dauphin.

The son born to Maria Francesco Farnese, later Duke of Parma, continued the work at Colorno dying in 1727.