Her father Ferdinand was the only son of Philip, Duke of Parma and Princess Louise Élisabeth of France.

Her mother and her aunt, Queen Maria Carolina, negotiated Carlotta's marriage with her first cousin Francis, Duke of Calabria.

parents as support during the French occupation, and were known to possess the religiosity of their father and the willpower of their mother.

However, while Maria Antonia was described as particularly severe and reserved, Carlotta demanded from the French governor a pension to live up to her princess status.

During the following years she led a quiet and modest life in the convent, where she died on April 6,[8] 1813 at the age of 35.