The Model Who Smiled Sweetly: Suki Potier
When you think of The Rolling Stones’ girlfriends you most likely going to think of Marianne Faithfull, Patti Hansen, Jerry Hall, Bianca Jagger, or Anita Pallenberg.
They have the most recognizable names and faces, as most of them are singers, actors, or models. We might also hear their outrageous stories while the time they were with the stones.
But there is one girlfriend who we never mention in almost every conversation of The Rolling Stones who is the 1960s model, Suki Potier.
Who is Suki Potier?
Melanie Susan Potier, better known as Suki Potier, was born on 14th November 1947, in Surrey, England. Her mother was Mary (nee Moore) Potier and her father, Gilbert Potier. She has one sibling, Sarah Sally Rosemary Potier, who is born on 12th February 1946.
She modeled for many English designers and agencies, including English Boy, an agency on the King’s Road in Chelsea, London, England, and Ossie Clark.
Most know her from her relationship with Tara Browne, an Irish socialite and heir to the Guinness fortune, and The Rolling Stones member, Brian Jones.
Her relationship with Browne started in 1966, shortly after Tara’s split from his first wife Noreen “Nicki” MacSherry. On 18 December 1966, at the time Potier was 19, she was a passenger in his light blue Lotus Elan sports car when he was driving through South Kensington. His car slammed into a parked van on Redcliffe Gardens, an affluent residential street in southwest London. Tara died from his injuries. She was not injured in the accident. The Beatles song “A Day in the Life” was based on this accident.
In 1967, Potier started dating Brian Jones. Jones was good friends with Tara Browne, immediately after his death both Suki and Brian were devastated. This tragedy led them together. Potier said: “He gave me a shoulder to cry on and he picked the pieces and made me feel like a woman again.” They dated for two years.
Around that time, she modeled for Ossie Clark’s April 1967 collection, along with three models Linda Keith, Chrissie Shrimpton, and Annie Sabroux. She was one of the Bond girls in the film “Casino Royale” but she didn’t have any screen time.
In 1968, Potier and her peers in the English Boy agency appeared in a small acting roles in Wonderwall, Joanna, and Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush.
During that time, she often went with Brian Jones on trips and even companied him during his trial for possession of cannabis.
In early 1969, Potier moved in with Brian and even had a pet dog, Luther, he was like a child to them. They would attend the premiere of “Candy” a Swedish film starring Ewa Aulin, Anita Pallenberg, Marlon Brando, and many big stars.
They eventually separated during that year. Potier left the relationship due to the fact she was worn out trying to make Brian love her. Potier did in fact love and care for Brian despite him being a troubled man in the relationship. Jones was very fond of Suki, but she wasn’t the one.
On July 2, 1969, Brian Jones was found dead in a swimming pool. Suki would attend the stones Hyde Park concert, where they tribute Brian Jones.
On the day of Brian Jones funeral, Suki attended her ex’s funeral along with Brian’s sister, Barbara.
“I loved him deeply. He was so much more than people ever knew or saw. He could be a right bastard at times, lashing out irrationally at the people who loved him, but all of that was only on the surface. He’d been hurt by his parents as a child and was wounded. All he ever wanted was the simple love and comfort of a home and family, but like an old dog, he had been kicked so long and so hard all of that was buried underneath years of hurt and resentment.” — Suki Potier, shortly after Brian’s death.
Potier continued to model for Ossie Clark in that same year.
While there’s not much information about Potier after 1969, but there are a few details we could share.
In the 1970s, Suki met Robert Ho, a future Hong Kong businessman, the eldest son of Stanley Ho, one of the wealthiest men in Macau, while he was a student at the London School of Business.
She, later on, married him and lived in Hong Kong. They had two daughters named Sarah and Faye.
Around that time, she was friends with British artist model, Henrietta Moraes. She would go over to Hong Kong to help her when she was heavily pregnant.
On 23 June 1981, Potier and her husband died in a car crash while on holiday in Portugal, leaving two toddler daughters. South China Morning Post reported: “The son and daughter-in-law of Macau’s casino boss, Mr Stanley Ho, have been killed in a traffic accident in Lisbon … Mr Ho said yesterday from Macau that members of his family have gone to Lisbon to make arrangements to bring the bodies back to Hongkong for burial. His son, Mr Robert Ho, was a manager of the Shun Tak Shipping Co Ltd. He and his wife, Suki Potier Ho, are survived by two daughters.
“Reports received last night did not say how the fatal accident, which happened on Tuesday [June 23, 1981], had occurred. But they said that Mrs Ho was at the wheel at the time, with her husband sitting beside her.”
The funeral service was attended by more than 800 people.
Potier’s daughter Sarah is now a successful jewelry designer in London, United Kingdom. To her daughter, Suki is an inspiration, perpetual muse, and namesake of her own daughter.
“I would love to know what she was like, how she lived, I just think she must have been the coolest mum on earth,” says Sarah. “I’m really proud to have someone like her as a mother, someone who lived a really colourful life.”
Suki Potier truly lived a colorful life. She was described as sweet and silly by the people who knew her. She may not be as well known as the other The Rolling Stones girlfriends, but she was an interesting figure.
