[4] In 1860, when Maria Luisa was five, her half-brother King Francis II of the Two Sicilies was defeated by the Expedition of the Thousand.

She and her family fled to Rome where they resided briefly at the Quirinal Palace at the invitation of the Pope Pius IX.

She was particularly devoted to her namesake patrons, the Immaculate Heart of Mary and Saint Aloysius Gonzaga.

[7] In the summer of 1867 Maria Luisa and her family were vacationing at Albano Laziale when cholera broke out.

[8] Following their mother's death, Maria Luisa and her siblings moved into the Palazzo Farnese, the residence of her half-brother King Francis II.

[12] On 25 November 1873 in Cannes, Maria Luisa married Prince Henry of Bourbon-Parma, Count of Bardi, son of Charles III, Duke of Parma and his wife Princess Louise Marie Thérèse of France.