Maximilian, Hereditary Prince of Saxony

Since he was the youngest son of the family, Maximilian initially had little chance to inherit the Electorate of Saxony. However, by 1800, Maximilian was the third in line to the Electorate, because all the children of his two older brothers, Frederick Augustus and Anthony, died in infancy, except Maria Augusta, Frederick Augustus's only surviving offspring. After the creation of the Kingdom of Saxony in 1806, Maximilian became a Prince of Saxony.

After the death of Frederick Augustus in 1827, Anthony succeeded him as King. Maximilian became first in line to the Saxon throne as Hereditary Prince (German: Thronfolger). However, three years later, on 1 September 1830, during the Autumn Disturbances, he renounced his rights of succession in favour of his eldest son, Frederick Augustus. He died eight years later, aged seventy-eight.

In Parma on 22 April 1792 (by proxy) and again in Dresden on 9 May 1792 (in person), Maximilian married firstly, the Princess Caroline of Bourbon (Carolina Maria Teresa Giuseppa), eldest child of Ferdinand, Duke of Parma and Archduchess Marie Amalie of Austria, a sister-in-law of his uncle Albert, Prince of Saxony and Duke of Teschen. Maxilimian and Caroline had seven children:

1. Maria Amalia (b. Dresden, 10 August 1794 - d. Pillnitz, 18 September 1870), known as Amalia.
2. Maria Ferdinanda (b. Dresden, 27 April 1796 - d. Schloss Brandeis, Bohemia, 3 January 1865), known as Maria; married on 6 May 1821 to Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany (father-in-law of her younger sister).
3. Frederick Augustus II (b. Dresden, 18 May 1797 - d. Brennbüchel, 9 August 1854), King of Saxony (1836).
4. Clemens Maria Joseph (b. Dresden, 1 May 1798 - d. Pisa, 4 January 1822), known as Klemens.
5. Maria Anna (b. Dresden, 15 November 1799 - d. Pisa, 24 March 1832), known as Anna; married on 16 November 1817 to Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany.
6. Johann I (b. Dresden, 12 December 1801 - d. Pillnitz, 29 October 1873), King of Saxony (1854).
7. Maria Josepha Amalia (b. Dresden, 6 December 1803 - d. Aranjuez, 17 May 1829), known as Josepha; married on 20 October 1819 to King Ferdinand VII of Spain.

In Lucca on 15 October 1825 (by proxy) and again in Dresden on 7 November 1825 (in person), Maximilian married Princess Luise of Bourbon (Maria Luisa Carlotta), daughter of the King Louis of Etruria and niece of his first wife Caroline. She was forty-three years younger than her husband. They had no children.

• Spain: Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece, 16 March 1792[1]
• Kingdom of Portugal: Grand Cross of the Sash of the Two Orders (Christ and St. James), 1825[2]
•  Poland–Lithuania: Order of the White Eagle