[citation needed] In 1859, Ferdinand, Maria's father, died, and her older brother Francis claimed the throne of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

[citation needed] During the family's stay in Rome, Maria was wedded to Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria.

[citation needed] This in return caused many to worry over the Princess's health, and the fact the seizure had taken place in front of members of the reigning House of Habsburg.

As her illness progressed, Maria spent her final days in agony,[citation needed] succumbing to tuberculosis on 4 May 1871 at the age of 28.

Her husband, Archduke Karl Ludwig, remarried two years after her death in 1873 to Infanta Maria Theresa of Portugal.