Ashley Bush

BY BENNETT MARCUS

he children of this issue’s cover star, Sharon Bush— Ashley, Lauren, and Pierce—have an unusually close relationship. The siblings grew up in the spotlight. Their father, Sharon’s ex-husband, Neil Bush, is the brother of former President George W. Bush, and son of former President George H.W. Bush.

In fact, Lauren officiated at sister, Ashley’s, 2019 wedding to Julian Lefevre. “Beyond joyful for my beautiful and loving sister, Ash, and her new hubby, Jules! It was an honor of a lifetime to get to officiate their ceremony yesterday,” Lauren posted on Instagram at the time.

Lauren, whose husband is David Lauren, son of fashion designer Ralph Lauren, surprised the newlyweds with a performance by Jon Batiste singing the couple’s signature song, “What a Wonderful World,” at the wedding party . “It was so magical, incredible,” Ashley tells Park

“When Jon was starting out in New York, we’d always go hear him play at some cool bar, and he would lead these parades around the block,” she says. “It was this insane, wild feeling that you’re all dancing on the streets of New York, and he’s leading this band. So we had really great memories with Jon and the Stay Human Band.”

The couple got to know him in those days before his career exploded. Batiste and his band later spent seven seasons as the in-house musicians for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

Kennebunkport “Summer White House” A Port In the Storm

Even after her parents’ contentious divorce in 2003, the extended Bush family remains close. Ashley’s cousins Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Pierce Bush, and their father, W, all attended her wedding.

They still gather every summer at the family compound in Kennebunkport, Maine, even after George Sr. and Barbara passed away in 2018. “The great thing is, life would change around you—my parents got divorced, I went off to college—but there was always this central place in Maine where you would come, and everything’s kind of the same,” says Ashley, a writer and producer for film and TV who lives in Los Angeles.

George Sr. Never Forgot Fallen WW II Airmen

Ashley still misses her late grandparents. “My grandfather was just so humble and kind and thoughtful. I asked some questions as he got older, reflecting on his life, and he still thought about when he was in the war and his fellow plane mates died in front of him,” she says, becoming emotional while recalling this. “It haunted him every day, and he got teary-eyed. He was a really emotional, in-tune kind of guy.”

America’s Grandmother Couldn’t Cook, but she was Big on Reading

We may have pictured the Bush family matriarch, Barbara, affectionately known as “America’s Grandmother,” baking cookies, but her actual granddaughter set the record straight. “She couldn’t really cook,” Ashley says. “But she was very big on reading.” Every summer, the children had to update Barbara on what they’d been reading. “It scared me if I didn’t do my summer reading.” She laughed, adding, “She wanted to make sure we were actively engaging our minds in that way.” She also loved journaling, and she encouraged Ashley to keep a journal, which she does to this day.

Barnard, USC, Anderson Cooper, Cary Fukunaga

Born in Denver, raised in Houston, Texas, Ashley