in august 1943 constantine played in a charity cricket match at lord's and had booked rooms for himself, his wife and daughter at the imperial hotel, london for four nights. he had been specifically told that his colour would not be an issue at the hotel. when he arrived on 30 july, he was told that they could only stay for one night because their presence might offend other guests. when arnold watson, a colleague of constantine at the ministry of labour, arrived and attempted to intervene, he was told by the manager: "we are not going to have these niggers in our hotel," and that his presence might offend american guests. watson argued, to no avail, that not only was constantine a british subject, he worked for the government. eventually watson persuaded constantine to leave and stay at another hotel which, owned by the same company as the imperial, proved to be welcoming. the imperial hotel incident affected constantine deeply, both because of the involvement of his family and also because he was due to play cricket for a team representing the british empire and commonwealth.