LIFE IN SPAIN: The curious affair of the daughter of a British Prime Minister and the son of a Spanish dictator

HIS name was Herbert Henry Asquith. He was British Prime Minister between 1908 and 1916. Indeed, he was the last Liberal leader to reside at Number Ten, Downing Street.

Famous for his excessive drinking, he was the last Prime Minister to be openly intoxicated whilst sitting on the Front Bench.

He has the dubious claim to fame of contributing a slang word for “drunk” to the English language. A hundred years ago, if someone had downed too much wine, he (or she) was referred to as being “squiffy” – which was Asquith’s nickname in honour of his fondness for red wine.

His daughter Elizabeth was a 17-year-old beauty when the First World War broke out. Her mother described her as “a precocious child of uncertain temper”.

She swiftly became the “Princess Diana” of her generation, a society beauty if there ever was one. She told George Bernard Shaw to write a play for her (he did), and she appeared in silent movies in Hollywood.

When Elizabeth died in 1945, her memoirs were published and caused a sensation.

José Antonio Primo de Rivera was six years younger than Elizabeth. Everyone who knew him agreed that he was intelligent, handsome and charismatic.

His father was the Spanish dictator of the 1920s.

José Antonio was, as they say, “born in the purple”, meaning that he seemed destined from birth to be Spain’s future leader. As a young man, he became the Spanish Hitler.

He founded a fascist party and campaigned hard, arguing that Spain should join forces with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy.

Tragically, José Antonio was taken prisoner by left-wing elements, and was executed by firing-squad in Alicante in 1936.

Four years later, Elizabeth Asquith published a book, “The Romantic”, which was dedicated to José Antonio. There are rumours that the two had an affair.

By this time, Elizabeth was married to a prominent Romanian diplomat, Antoine Bibesco. Her husband was staggeringly rich, and might well have been gay – he was a close friend of Marcel Proust.

The wedding had taken place in 1919. Elizabeth was 22 at the time, and Antoine 41.

In 1927, Antoine was appointed Rumanian Ambassador to Spain, and the couple moved to Madrid – just as José Antonio was making a name for himself as a firebrand right-wing orator.

It seems that the young Spanish Fascist felt attracted to the Englishwoman. They were frequently seen in the circles of theatrical performances and diplomatic receptions.

They also met at the Ritz. Elizabeth, now known as “Princess Bibesco”—we read—”sparkled in a black dress with a magnificent headband of diamonds and emeralds.”

At the time, there was open talk of a romance.

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Four years after José Antonio’s death, she wrote, “To Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera. I promised you a book before I began. It’s yours now that it’s finished. Those we love die to us only when we die…”

Shortly after the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic in 1934, and amid the political upheavals of those months, Antoine was posted to his home country, Romania.

The couple settled near Bucharest and were very active in a diplomatic circles. The country was going through difficult times due to the mounting threat of World War II.

The Bibesco family held out the false hope that the country would support the Allies, but they were mistaken, and Romania entered the war on the losing side.

Princess Bibesco, Elizabeth Asquith, died of pneumonia in Bucharest in April 1945. She was only 48 years old.

Her grave bears the epitaph, “My soul has gained the freedom of the night”, which was a line from one of her own poems.

When the Communists took power in 1948, all the family’s property was confiscated. Antoine was expelled from the country and died in Paris in 1951.