Princess Margaret loved dancing to reggae music and "playing DJ" behind closed doors at her Kensington Palace home, it has been revealed.
MORE: Princess Margaret threw son's ex-girlfriend secret engagement party
Susannah Constantine has opened up about her relationship with Viscount Linley from 1983 to 1989 and recalled her relationship with the late Princess (whom she referred to as her "mother-in-law") in a new memoir, Ready for Absolutely Nothing, and shared some surprising secrets about her home life.
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The What Not to Wear star said that she and David were both living at home when they started dating, and while her parents wouldn't let her boyfriend stop over at their home, Princess Margaret had a more "open-minded" approach to the couple staying together at Kensington Palace.
"Everyone knew she loved a drink and a fag, but few had the pleasure of seeing her dance around to Desmond Dekker's Israelites in her drawing room. If there was one thing she guarded with her life, it was the right to play DJ when hosting at Kensington Palace," Susannah wrote.
Princess Margaret liked to 'play DJ' at Kensington Palace
"That was the thing about Princess Margaret; she lived her entire life in front of an audience, but always managed to carve out a niche — private corners — where she could be herself."
Susannah also shared her experience of visiting Princess Margaret's private home, Les Jolies Eaux, on the island of Mustique.
MORE: Princess Margaret's special sister bond with the Queen
"Our main concern on the island was whether or not we’d get a decent breakfast. As a precaution, half my suitcase was packed with smoked salmon, Lincolnshire sausages, marmalade, Marmite and bacon at the request of the princess," Susannah wrote. "If she taught me anything it was that the component parts of a full English must be neither compromised nor left to chance."
Susannah Constantine dated Princess Margaret's son, Viscount David Linley
Susannah also revealed that such was her bond with the Princess, Margaret also organised a secret engagement celebration for her ahead of her wedding to Sten Bertelsen in 1995, five years after her split from David. "She knew she’d need to hold the dinner somewhere private because the Press would have had a field day had they found the princess serenading her son’s ex and her new beau," she explained.
Princess Margaret lived at Apartment 1A in Kensington Palace, which was later renovated and modernised to become the London residence of the Prince and Princess of Wales and their children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.
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