Despite her links with the Romanian Communist Party, Elisabeth was forced to leave the country after the proclamation of the Romanian People's Republic, on 30 December 1947. The new regime gave her three days to pack her belongings and the Elisabeta Palace was ransacked. However, before she went into exile, the princess had time to burn her archives in the domain of Banloc. On 12 January 1948 she left Romania with her sister Ileana aboard a special train provided by the Communists. The Scanavi family accompanied them, but both princesses lost much of their property after being expelled from the country.