Isabella was nicknamed Bela by her family. She was a goddaughter of her namesake, Queen Isabella II of Spain, who was very fond of her.
She and her husband Tommaso were very close to the Bavarian and Spanish royal families. Queen Isabella 's daughter Infanta Eulalia spent a great deal of time with them during her trips in Italy. They were also invited to the wedding of King Alfonso XIII of Spain and Victoria Eugenia of Battenberg in 1906.
Isabella was very fond of her native Bavaria and frequently visited Munich. She and her husband used to spend a lot of time in their residence of Aglié, which reminded her of Nymphenburg Palace, where she was born. She was old-fashioned and it was hard for her to accept the "infernal" machines like the automobile, so she preferred to travel by carriage.
Infanta Paz tells more details about Isabella in her memoirs.