When her mother died in 1790 Maria Beatrice succeeded to Massa and the Principality of Carrara which she held in her own right. After the French conquest of her domains in Italy, she spent her life in Austria and left the rule to administrators. Just after the marriage, the couple had settled in Modena then travelled to Milan where Maria Beatrice gave birth to most of her 10 children by Ferdinand. As Modena did not allow female succession, Maria Beatrice's rights to the throne passed to her son when her father died in 1803. By her marriage, the House of Austria-Este was created, a cadet branch of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, which ruled Modena between 1814 and 1859. At her death in her palace in Vienna in 1829, Massa and Carrara were added to the Duchy of Modena which were subsequently given to her son.