Model and 'face of Royal Ascot' Lady Martha Sitwell reveals she slept rough on the streets of London for 3 years as a teenager and was raped multiple times
- Lady Sitwell was homeless before being spotted by Vivienne Westwood
- READ MORE: Martha Sitwell reveals she has a stalker with history of 'strangling'
Lady Martha Sitwell has revealed that she slept rough as a teenager - and opened up about the devastating abuse she endured on the streets of London.
The socialite and model, 44, who's best known for being the 'face of Royal Ascot', revealed for the first time that she was homeless between the ages of 13 and 16.
In a new interview with The Times, Lady Sitwell, who is the ex-wife of baronet Sir George Sitwell, explained how her story proves that homelessness can happen to anyone.
After being kicked out of home, she slept rough for three years until she was spotted by Vivienne Westwood outside the Piccadilly Theatre and her life completely changed.
In that time, Ms Sitwell faced constant threats and danger, including being 'spat at and kicked at' by those who saw her as vulnerable and was raped as a young teenager.
Lady Martha Sitwell (pictured in November 2023) has opened up about her experience of 'sleeping rough' as a teenager - and the devastating abuse she received
Between the ages of 13 and 16, Lady Sitwell, now 44, slept on the streets of London (pictured in 1996)
She told the newspaper she had 'nowhere to go' and was ill-prepared for a life on the streets after being kicked out of her family home.
Describing her years of homelessness, she said: 'Often I would be woken by someone — not necessarily another homeless person — robbing me of what little I had secured to survive on that day.'
She added that 'party nights' (Thursdays to Sundays) were the worst: 'While the bars were open I would undergo regular small acts of random cruelty, being spat at or kicked by a passing reveller to make their friends laugh, because I was homeless and therefore in their eyes not human.
'Later, after closing, when the crowds of people waiting for taxis or buses home had dwindled to just a handful of mindless bored drunks, I might be subjected to more sustained acts of violence.'
As a young teenager, she faced dangers at night time - particularly in the hours after people had gone home after a night out and before commuters began their journeys.
In the day time, it was a case of begging for money while being ignored by people who assumed she was lazy and work-shy.
One horrific incident saw her even being kidnapped by a group of four men and raped by each of them.
Lady Sitwell says her journey into homelessness proves it is something that can happen to anyone.
Lady Sitwell (pictured at Ascot Ladies Day lunch in 2021) is now known for being the former 'face of Ascot' after being spotted by Vivienne Westwood
Lady Martha Sitwell takes part in the first sidesaddle race for 90 years in Ingarsby, Leicestershire, in 2013
She grew up in a large Georgian house in north Norfolk, the middle child of gastronomes Justin and Melanie de Blank.
She and her siblings had hobbies such as ballet and horse riding, and lived a privileged childhood.
But her hidden struggles with dyslexia and dyspraxia - as well as an attention deficit order not diagnosed until her 30s - meant she struggled at school.
The now-socialite underwent a series of traumatic events even before homelessness struck, including being raped by a family friend aged 11 and her father being diagnosed with Parkinson's when she was 13.
Finding solace with goth and punk friends in London, Ms Sitwell turned to partying, smoking, LSD and Ecstasy - and was eventually kicked out of home.
She first slept in the underpass at Tottenham Court Road before meeting her boyfriend - a drug addict, and moving to a spot at Piccadilly Theatre.
At just 17, she had a son, Conor De Blank, and the baby was raised by her aunt.
Later, she was spotted by Vivienne Westwood in a doorway at Piccadilly Theatre, and her life dramatically turned around.
Lady Sitwell has never disclosed the identity of her son’s heavily tattooed father, whom she is pictured kissing, above, with baby Conor on his lap while she clutches a cigarette
She went on to become known as the 'face of Ascot' and as a 'doyenne' of sidesaddle in horse-riding.
Ms Sitwell married former film producer Sir George in 2007 and lived with him in Northamptonshire at £3.25 million Grade II-listed Weston Hall.
But her relationship with the great-nephew of poet Dame Edith Sitwell turned frosty and she held a ‘divorce party’ in 2017 to mark the end of their ten-year union.
In September 2021, she revealed her fury after Sir George sold the Northamptonshire home Weston Hall for £3.25million after being in the family home for 300 years.
‘My husband, who I spent 12 years with, who I gave up a promising modelling career for, who now lives in Knightsbridge, has now sold the house that, at the time of our divorce, could never be sold,’ said Lady Sitwell, who claimed she was left almost bankrupt after her divorce.
Despite his ex-wife's complaints, Sir George insisted he had 'no control whatsoever' over the sale of Weston Hall and its contents.
Laura Whitmore, Philip Treacy, Kim Murdoch, Samantha Barks and Martha Sitwell attend Derby Day in 2013
Lady Sitwell once described matrimony in general as 'pure misery', explaining: 'It sucks all the energy from you, sucks your youth and all the fun from your life.'
She is still a model, stylist, designer and make-up artist - but says she lives a 'hand to mouth' existence in a rented flat.
After her split from Sir George, Lady Sitwell was linked with Sotheby's boss Lord Dalmeny, until they parted ways in April 2022.
A year later she was spotted leaving the upmarket Scott's in Mayfair with Charles Saatchi, the ex-husband of Nigella Lawson.
Last December, homelessness charity Shelter found that 309,000 people would be spending Christmas without a home. In 2022, homelessness among workers in England rose by 22 per cent from two years earlier.
