Lady Elizabeth Basset,

DCVO The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, o ...

(''née'' Legge; 5 March 1908 – 30 November 2000), was an English author and courtier.

Biography

Basset was born at 8 Prince's Gate,

Knightsbridge Knightsbridge is a residential and retail district in central London, south of Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park. It is identified in the London Plan as one of two international retail centres in London, alongside the West End of London, West End. ...

, the second daughter of the 7th Earl of Dartmouth and Lady Ruperta Wynn-Carrington, daughter of the Marquess of Lincolnshire. She was educated at home. On 31 October 1931, she married Ronald Lambert Basset (1898–1972), senior representative of the ancient

Basset family Members of the Basset family were amongst the early Norman settlers in the Kingdom of England. It is currently one of the few ancient Norman families who has survived through the centuries in the paternal line. They originated at Montreuil-au- ...

Tehidy Tehidy Country Park is a country park in Illogan in Cornwall, England which incorporates of the parkland and estate around Tehidy House, a former manor house of the Tehidy manor . The park's facilities include an events field, barbecue hire ...

in Cornwall. They had two children, industrialist Bryan Ronald Basset (1932–2010) and Peter Francis Basset (1935–1954). During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, she ran a small farm in North Devon. In 1959,

Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was the l ...

, asked Basset to be a

Woman of the Bedchamber In the Royal Household of the United Kingdom the term Woman of the Bedchamber is used to describe a woman (usually a daughter of a peer) attending either a queen regnant or queen consort, in the role of lady-in-waiting. Historically the term 'Ge ...

. She held that position until 1981. She was active as a Lady-in-Waiting from 1982 to 1993. She retired at the age of 85. She was appointed a Commander of the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, o ...

in 1976 and a dame of the same order in 1989. Lady Elizabeth authored a

devotional book Christian devotional literature (also called devotionals or Christian living literature) is religious writing that Christian individuals read for their personal growth and spiritual formation. Such literature often takes the form of Christian daily ...

, ''Love Is My Meaning'', and four anthologies. Lady Elizabeth Basset died in London in 2000, aged 92.Obituary
, ''The Independent'' via findarticles.com; accessed 16 October 2014.

Bibliography

* ''Love is My Meaning - An Anthology of Assurance'' (1973) * ''Each in His Prison'' (1978) * ''The Bridge is Love: an anthology of hope'' (1981) * ''Interpreted by Love: an anthology of praise'' (1994) * ''Beyond the Blue Mountains: Wisdom and Compassion on Living and Dying'' (1999)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Basset, Elizabeth 1908 births 2000 deaths Dames Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Daughters of British earls Ladies of the Bedchamber People from Knightsbridge British religious writers 20th-century British women writers 20th-century British writers