Princess Maria Antonia of the Two Sicilies

Maria Antonia was born at the Royal Palace of Palermo on 19 December 1814, daughter of Francis I of the Two Sicilies and his wife Maria Isabella of Spain, she was baptised Maria Antonia in honor of Maria Antonia-Anna's great-aunt Marie Antoinette, deceased sister of her grandmother Maria Carolina of Austria.

When she was born, the Neapolitan court had already moved to Sicily because Napoleonic troops had invaded the continental part of the realm. After a few months the royal family returned to Naples thanks to the Congress of Vienna.

She was particularly close to her brother the future Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies, who affectionately dubbed her Totò.

In 1833, when she was eighteen, Maria Antonia married her first cousin Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany, who was seventeen years older. Marie Antoinette and Leopold had ten children:

• Archduchess Maria Isabella, who wed her maternal uncle Prince Francis, Count of Trapani, youngest son of Francis I of the Two Sicilies.
• Ferdinand IV, Grand Duke of Tuscany (10 June 1835 – 17 January 1908).
• Archduchess Maria Theresa (29 June 1836 – 5 August 1838).
• Archduchess Maria Christina (5 February 1838 – 1 September 1849).
• Archduke Karl Salvator (30 April 1839 – 18 January 1892)
• Archduchess Maria Anna (9 June 1840 – 13 August 1841).
• Archduke Rainer (1 May 1842 – 14 August 1844).
• Archduchess Maria Luisa (31 October 1845 – 27 August 1917), who wed Karl, Prince of Isenburg-Büdingen.
• Archduke Ludwig Salvator (4 August 1847 – 12 October 1915).
• Archduke Johann Salvator (25 November 1852 – reported lost at sea in 1890, amidst speculation that he survived, subsequently using the alias "Johann Orth").

The Piazza Maria Antonia – today Piazza dell'Indipendeza, the railway line Maria Antonia and the Maria Antonia train station, now called Firenze Santa Maria Novella, were named in her honour.

In April 27th 1859, before the Franco-Piedmont war against Austria, Leopold II proclaimed neutrality. On the afternoon of 27 April, Leopold II chose to leave Florence with his family, in four carriages heading toward Bologna, rather than provoke any violence by what appeared to be a well orchestrated coup directed by the Piedmontese government. Shortly beforehand he had refused to abdicate in favour of his son, Ferdinand IV, which then became nominal Grandduke of Tuscany after Leopold II was forced to abdicate by the emperor Francis Joseph in July of the same year.