. Born at the
Royal Palace of El Pardo, Maria Amalia was the second surviving daughter of King
Carlos IV of Spain (1748–1819) and his wife
Maria Luisa of Parma (1751–1819), a granddaughter of
Louis XV of France. Maria Amalia's mother, Queen Maria Luisa, arranged her marriage to her maternal first cousin
Louis, hereditary Prince of Parma. The Prince arrived at the Spanish court, in 1794, to finish his education. He was blond, good looking, of amiable character and he had a great interest in science. Five years younger than her cousin, Infanta Maria Amalia was fifteen years old at the time. She was short, not particularly attractive and sullen, reserved and shy in character. Louis, who was equally shy, preferred her younger sister,
Infanta Maria Luisa, who although only twelve, was of a more cheerful disposition and somewhat better looking. Maria Amalia's parents accepted the unexpected change of brides, but it became a matter of urgency for them to find a husband for the saddened and scorned Maria Amalia. As she was the elder of the two sisters, it would be humiliating for Maria Amalia that her younger sister not only would marry her previous fiance, but that Maria Luisa would marry first. ==Marriage and death==