24 Facts About Marthe Bibesco

Princess Martha Bibescu, known outside of Romania as Marthe Bibesco, was a Romanian-French writer, socialite, style icon and political hostess.

Marthe Bibesco spent her childhood at the noble Lahovary's estates in Balotesti and Biarritz, where she received an education in literature.

Marthe Bibesco began her literary career in 1908 with the publication of her travel memoir Les Huit Paradis, which received positive reviews from French critics.

On her first introduction into society, in 1900, she met Crown Prince Ferdinand, the heir apparent to the Romanian throne, but after a secret engagement of one year, Marthe married Prince George III Valentin Bibescu at sixteen, scion of one of the country's prestigious aristocratic families Bibescu.

Fluent in French at an early age, even before she could speak Romanian, Marthe spent the first years of her marriage under the tutelage of her mother-in-law, Princess Valentine Bibesco, who saw to it that the extensive education in European history and literature Marthe already had was reinforced.

Marthe Bibesco became the toast of Belle Epoque Paris, moving easily among the literary, aristocratic and political power elites.

Marthe Bibesco was awarded the Prix de l'Academie francaise and met Marcel Proust, who sent her a letter praising her book: "You are not only a splendid writer, Princess, but a sculptor of words, a musician, a purveyor of scents, a poet".

Back in Bucharest, in 1908, Marthe Bibesco was introduced to the German Kronprinz, Wilhelm.

Marthe Bibesco was awarded the supreme honour of accompanying Wilhelm in the imperial limousine, as it passed through the Brandenburg Gate, an entitlement otherwise reserved to members of the imperial family.

Marthe Bibesco would try to involve Marthe in the international relations of pre-war Europe, secretly asking her to be the quiet mediator between France and Germany on the Alsace-Lorraine issue.

The French prince Charles-Louis de Beauvau-Craon fell in love with Marthe Bibesco, leading to an affair that lasted for a decade.

In March 1915, Marthe Bibesco met Christopher Thomson, the British military attache, at a Palace soiree; he was arranging for Romania to join the Allies, although he did not agree with the policy, as Romania was unprepared for war.

Marthe Bibesco remained devoted to her for the rest of his life.

Marthe Bibesco visited the site of his death in the R101 airship accident in December 1930 with their mutual friend the Abbe Mugnier.

When Romania at last entered the war on the Allied side in 1916, Marthe Bibesco worked at a hospital in Bucharest until the German army burned down her home in Posada in the Transylvanian Alps.

Marthe Bibesco fled the country to join her mother and daughter in Geneva after a quarantine exile, imposed by the German occupiers, in Austria-Hungary.

In 1919, Marthe was invited to Prince Antoine Bibesco's wedding in London to Elizabeth Asquith.

Princess Elizabeth Marthe Bibesco, who died in Romania during World War II, is buried in the Marthe Bibesco family vault on the grounds of Mogosoaia.

Marthe Bibesco visited him often in London and was his guest at Chequers.

Marthe Bibesco had a long-term contract with The Saturday Evening Post and Paris-Soir.

Marthe Bibesco visited Germany in 1938 to see Wilhelm, and was introduced to Hermann Goring; she visited the United Kingdom in 1939 to meet George Bernard Shaw.

Prince George III Marthe Bibesco died on 2 June 1941; their relationship strengthened during his illness, even though he kept his mistresses.

Marthe Bibesco spent the remainder of her life in Paris and England.

Marthe Bibesco remained in Paris, first living at the Ritz Hotel, then in her apartment at 45, Quai de Bourbon.