Princess Margaret reportedly visited the Caribbean homes of stars when they were not home.
The late Queen Elizabeth II would famously make sure she has left London for Balmoral before the public were allowed to look around Buckingham Palace.
And it now seems her sister was just as keen to learn about the homes of the rich and famous as the tourists walking around the iconic palace.
Television star Susannah Constantine, who was with Margaret’s son David, the Earl of Snowdon, for six years in the 1980s says the princess would secretly enter holiday homes owner by famous people on Mustique, in the West Indies, reports MailOnline.
Margaret was given a 10-acre plot of land on the tiny island as a wedding present from Scottish aristocrat Colin Tennant, the 3rd Lord Glenconner.
He bought Mustique and transformed it into a hideaway for the stars after his original plans to farm sea island cotton, beef and mutton hit a snag.
Susannah, 61, the former star of What Not to Wear, said: “She loved snooping round people’s houses.”
She compared the Queen’s sister to the overbearing housekeeper in Daphne du Maurier’s gothic novel Rebecca, claiming she was “like Mrs Danvers” and “virtually had a master key for every house”.
The TV presenter is understood to have visited Mustique with King Charles’s aunt around “five or six” times.
She says David Bowie’s Japanese-inspired villa Britannia Bay House was among those visited by Margaret.
The property was said to be designed like a temple, with its decor including clashing animal print that was once described by the Starman hitmaker as “the most delightful cliche”.
Susannah says the royal would “snoop around” and there was “no security” at Bowie’s holiday residence. She says Magaret would often comment on the decoration in the properties.
Margaret’s own home on the island, Les Jolies Eaux was built with the help of renowned theatre designer Oliver Messel. The name means “beautiful waters”.
She is said to have described Mustique as the “only place I can relax”. She gave the property to her son five years before she died.
He later sold it to American businessman Jim Murray in 1999 for a reported sum of £2.4 million.
Other stars who have owned homes on Mustique are said to include Rolling Stones frontman Sir Mick Jagger, American fashion designed Tommy Hillfiger, comedian John Cleese, and English artists Oliver Messel.
