Susannah Constantine was told to drop a story about Princess Margaret helping her unblock a toilet from her autobiography.

Susannah Constantine was told to drop a story about Princess Margaret from her autobiography

Susannah Constantine was told to drop a story about Princess Margaret from her autobiography

The 'What Not to Wear' star has detailed her life in 'Ready for Absolutely Nothing' and in the book, she recalls the moment when Queen Elizabeth's sister - who died in 2002 - followed her into a cubicle at the Old Royal Navy College in London and offered to cut up the blockage with a silver cake knife.

Constantine - who was dating Margaret's son David Linley at the time - told the Independent newspaper that she was warned not to include the anecdote. She explained: "The publishers actually said: ‘We advise you not to put that in’. And I said: ‘Well, no, I want to put it in’ because for me, it’s an anecdote that reveals more than anything, what an amazingly resourceful, down-to-earth, practical woman she was.

"And you know, I don’t think it was really so much a reflection on the closeness of our relationship. I think she would have done it with anyone."

During the interview, Constantine also opened up about a recent health scare which left her needing brain surgery. She was diagnosed with blocked blood vessels in her neck and brain and had to go an operation to treat it. She admits the surgery left her feeling overwhelmed and at one point during a holiday in Greece, she locked herself in the bathroom and sobbed.

She told the newspaper: "I didn’t want to alarm the children. So you make light of it a bit, but inside you’re going, ‘I’ve just had f****** brain surgery: can you not ask me what’s for dinner tonight?’"

Constantine has also been battling hearing loss and now needs to wear a hearing aid. In a previous interview with The Mirror, she explained: "Ambient noise is awful. I wasn’t able to hear the person sitting next to me. I’d become an amateur lip reader, but if I couldn’t see someone’s face, I had no idea what they were saying. It was embarrassing ... I won’t lie, I did feel ashamed in a way ... For me, it’s always been one of the greatest physical signs of ageing, like wrinkles and dentures

"There can be a huge stigma around wearing hearing aids, I felt like I might as well go to the funeral director and order my coffin, it made me feel so old."

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