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Susannah Constantine reveals Princess Margaret once came to her rescue when her toilet wouldn’t flush

‘This is gross but it’s an indication of her resourcefulness’

Amber Raiken
New York
Tuesday 11 October 2022 22:56 BST
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Princess Margaret chopped up ‘unflushable’ turd with silver cake slice, Susannah Constantine reveals

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Susannah Constantine revealed that Princess Margaret once rescued her in two lavatory-related experiences, including one where a toilet wouldn’t flush.

The 60-year-old fashion writer, who previously dated Margaret’s son, David Armstrong-Jones, discussed her relationship with the Countess of Snowdon in a recent appearance on the How to be 60 with Kaye Adams podcast.

During the conversation, Constantine recalled how Margaret came to her “aid on two occasions,” one of which included a time where she had passed out and “pooped [herself]”.

“This is gross but it’s an indication of her resourcefulness,” the TV presenter said. “But I fainted and shat and pooed myself.”

After noting that the incident occured at a birthday party, she described how model Jerry Hall found her and cleaned her up, with the help of Margaret.

“Princess Margaret came and the two of them mopped me up, kind of bathed me down,” Constantine continued. “I was then kind of pushed back out.”

She proceeded to describe the second situation that Margaret helped her with, where she “went to the loo to do a number two at the Greenwich Naval College”.

However, according to Constantine, Margaret thought that she was taking “too long” so the royal came to the lavatory to find her.

“I was gone too long for her liking,” the book author continued. “She thought I was being incredibly rude. And she came to find me and I heard this voice, [saying], ‘Susannah!’ And I was like, ‘Yes ma’am.’ And she kind of kicked the door open and I was sitting on the loo and my pants down round my ankle.”

“I wasn’t embarrassed at all. And I just said to her, ‘Ma’am, it won’t go down,’” she added, referring to the poop in the toilet.

Constantine went on to note that Queen Elizabeth II’s sister then “looked at” her and told her to “go get a knife”. She then shared that she found “a really gorgeous, ivory handled, cake slicer,” in the dining room which she gave to Margaret.

She went on to describe how Margaret used the knife on the poop, explaining: “She turned around and there was this chop, chop, chop, chop, chop, flushed the loo, handed me back the knife, which I then went to go and wash.”

The What Not to Wear: The Rules co-author also revealed that “to this day”, she still has the cake slicer that Margaret used.

Elsewhere in the podcast interview, Constantine recalled another experience with Margaret and how she stayed in contact with her even after her relationship with Viscount Linley ended. She said that when she got engaged to her current husband of 27 years, Sten Bertelsen, Margaret had reached out to her to celebrate.

“We got an invitation saying, ‘Princess Margaret would like to give you dinner to celebrate your engagement.’ And I hadn’t spoken to her…for like three years or something or seen her in maybe five years,” she explained.

“And it’s like, what mother of your ex-boyfriend would have the generosity of spirit to do that,” Constantine continued. “It was quite amazing. And that was the sense of loyalty we had for each other.”

The Independent has contacted Buckingham Palace for comment.

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