Born to the Duke and Duchess of Savoy at the Royal Palace of Turin, she was the couple's tenth child and sixth daughter.

The couple also were joint first cousins of Charles IV of Spain and Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies, Maria Carolina through her Spanish mother and Anthony through his father.

Upon her arrival, she ranked as one of the highest females at the Saxon court, Anthony's mother Maria Antonia of Bavaria died in 1780.

Popular in her native land, she was remembered in an old folk song composed in her honor after her early death: "Principessa Maria Carolina Antonietta di Savoia!

Lo sposo da me scelto v'aspetta: il Duca di Sassonia: Marcantonio Clemente."