The real story behind the night Freddie Mercury dressed Princess Diana as a man and took her clubbing



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Before Princess Diana entered into her “grotesque misalliance” with Prince Charles, she was just a 19-year-old girl who loved to party. In the new series of The crown, we see the future princess (played by Emma Corrin) going out clubbing with her friends and dancing on the tables with Stevie Nicks. She may not have followed strict palace protocol, but it’s obvious she loved a royally good night out.

There have been many well-documented scenes of Diana on the dance floor – particularly in the Netflix series; ballroom dancing with Charles in Sydney, then tossing shapes at Billy Joel’s Uptown Girl at the Royal Opera House – but all pale in comparison to the story of a wild night out that Diana had with Freddie Mercury, Kenny Everett and Cleo Rocos in the 80s.

Knebworth, UK August 09 The Queen performs at Knebworth, the last concert of the Magic Tour on August 09, 1986 in Knebworth, UK photo by fgbauer griffingetty images 170612f1

FG / Bauer-GriffinGetty Images

It is a story that is now integrated into the urban legend. It first appeared in 2013, when in Rocos’ memoir ‘The Power of Positive Drinking’ she described a laid back day in the life of the planet’s greatest rock star, the Princess of Wales. , a much loved actress and actor, Rocos.

The group apparently spent the afternoon drinking champagne and watching Golden girls – very Lockdown Two – dubbing their own “naughty dialogue” on the muted TV show.

In the evening, the high jinks escalated and the gang decided to go clubbing in the iconic gay cabaret bar, the Royal Tavern of Vaxhaull in South London. Diana said she was in ‘full mischief mode’, and Mercury agreed, ‘Go on, let the girl have fun.’

But there was just the question of how Diane, one of the most famous faces on the planet, might go unnoticed by other clubbers. The answer: by making her a “rather eccentric gay model”.

The trio made her more of a mascot by wearing her with a baseball cap, sunglasses and an army bomber jacket. Rocos said: “She looked like a handsome young man.”

Friends made their way through the club at Vauxhall – “squeezed through crowds of leather and thongs” – and it was right that it was Diana’s tour of the bar, after her transformation into drag king. His order? White wines and beer.

Rocos added in his book: “When we walked in… we felt that she was obviously Princess Diana and that she would be discovered at any time. But people just seemed to cover it up. She sort of disappeared. But she loved it.

“We nudged each other like naughty schoolchildren. Diana and Freddie were laughing … Once the transaction was over, we looked at each other, united in our triumphant quest. We did it!”

the crown season 4, actual royal photos

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The gang then left after just 20 minutes – presumably for an after-party too spicy for even Rocos to print.

While The crown unfortunately doesn’t focus on that particular rock’n’roll-meets-royalty episode, it’s something that deserved a small screen adaptation before. In 2019, Sky Arts’ Urban myths The series aired the show Princess Diana, Freddie Mercury and Kenny Everett, which further imagines the epic evening.

In it, the fictionalized Diana (played by Sophie Rundle) befriends a drag queen in the tavern and it inspires her to start her campaign for gay rights and her work with those with HIV / AIDS. . She ends with the realization: “The next time people turn around expecting me to speak, I should say something.” She is then pushed home by Mercury and Everett in a supermarket cart.

urban sky art myths

Urban Myths from Sky Art

Urban Legends from Sky Art

While this particular revamp of Rocos’ story is obviously a flight of fancy, it’s always a joy to see the experience come to life on screen. And fans are now desperate to have it recreated for the next series of The crown. A viewer on Twitter said: “I only watch The crown in case they do the track ‘Diana and Freddie Mercury Go to Vauxhall Tavern’ which we all know is the only royals related story worth putting on screen. Another commented: “If there is no scene in The crown series five where Diana is dragged to RVT by Freddie Mercury, we’re chasing Netflix, ”while another fan added,“ Let’s start a petition! “

Whether writer Peter Morgan chooses to grant his wishes for series five still remains one of the greatest pop culture stories of the 80s. Has its veracity been confirmed? No, not exactly. Do we want this to be true? Absolutely.

With the invention of social media and camera phones in a good 30 years, no one has ever managed to take a picture of them. But it’s nice to think that for one night Diana and her friends experienced a night of wild anonymity, joining the masses moving together on the dance floor – something that’s just as poignant now, because it has us all. been removed in 2020.

In a world where these are “pictures or it didn’t happen”, this is an event best remembered as a great anecdote – although it still has not been confirmed.

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