Elizabeth Bibesco

Elizabeth, Princess Bibesco (born Elizabeth Charlotte Lucy Asquith; 26 February 1897 – 7 April 1945) was an English socialite and a writer between 1921 and 1940. She was the daughter of H. H. Asquith, who would become the British prime minister from 1908 to 1916, and Margot Asquith, and the wife of Antoine Bibesco, a Romanian prince and diplomat. She drew on her experience in British high society in her short stories and novels. A final posthumous collection of her stories, poems and aphorisms was published under the title Haven in 1951, with a preface by Elizabeth Bowen.

Childhood and youth

Elizabeth Charlotte Lucy Asquith was the first child of H. H. Asquith (British prime minister, 1908–1916) and his second wife, Margot Tennant. According to her mother's 1920 autobiography, she was a precocious child of uncertain temper.

Life as the Prime Minister's daughter thrust her into the public eye at an early age and she developed a quick wit and a social presence beyond her years. At the age of 12 she asked George Bernard Shaw to write a play to be produced by her for a charity benefit. He wrote The Fascinating Foundling, which she directed with other children as actors.

When she was just 14, The Times wrote that "many members of the House have made the acquaintance of Miss Asquith and in expressing their concern for her health, have referred to her charm of manner and to the interest which she has begun already to show in political matters." As a teenager, during World War I, she was given opportunities to do "good works", organising and performing in "matinees" for the servicemen. Her first known literary effort was a short duologue called "Off and On" which she performed with Nelson Keys in 1916 at the Palace Theatre. In the same year she organised a large show of portraits by John Singer Sargent at the Grafton Galleries to aid the Art Fund and a "Poets' Reading" in aid of the Star and Garter Fund. In 1918, she played small roles in two silent war movies by D.W. Griffith, Hearts of the World and The Great Love.