Escape from the palace at night: how Princess Diana broke the bans with Freddie Mercury
'01.11.2020'
Source: MUSIC on "Yandex.Zen"
This amazing story happened when both of our heroes seemed to be at the peak of their international popularity ... In 1981, Diana married Prince Charles. From that moment on, her controversial story of "love", unique style and pronounced individuality aroused admiration among millions of people ... Actually, the love for Lady Di has survived among the public to this day. This story was told by the author of the channel MUSIC on Yandex.Zen.
Since Diana was the wife of Prince Charles, the heir to the throne of the United Kingdom, her every step was under strict control ... And both the royal family and the tabloids. However ... the lady managed to slip away from her duties more than once. And a trip to the Royal Vauxhall Tavern is one of the highlights!
How did Princess Diana end up in the scandalous nightclub?
The story goes that Diana, Freddie Mercury, Cleo Rokos and Kenny Everett gathered at the latter's house for a drink and some relaxation. They decided to watch one of the princess's favorite TV series, the Golden Years show. Soon a funny game was invented: they lowered the sound of the TV and improvised the dialogues of the characters on the small screen, creating funny stories, much more piquant and carefree ... Everyone laughed, including Diana, who, according to Cleo Rokos, shyly covered her face with a pillow ...
Diana later asked what the three were going to do tonight? To which Freddie replied that they were going to have fun at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern. The princess was fascinated by the mysterious name of the place, which she had never heard of ... Diana expressed a desire to accompany them, but Freddie, Cleo and Kenny tried to dissuade her. Such a scandalous place had nothing to do with her aristocratic position as a princess! But she wanted to continue the evening and did not accept the refusal as an answer ...
The potential consequences of getting the future Queen of England into a noisy nightclub, and even in the wild 80s, horrified Rokos:
“We begged her:“ Think! What will the headline be if you get caught in a fight, and even in a scandalous bar? " But Diana was full of excitement ... "- the actress recalled in her memoirs.
In the end, Freddie reassured his friends and accepted Diana's request.
"Okay, let the girl have some fun!" - he said.
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What was happening at the club?
Royal Vauxhall Tavern is one of the most notorious places where night-time conflicts are considered commonplace. This club has always been full of people, and if there was any incident with Diana, it was immediately reported in the media! And, obviously, the princess would have serious problems ...
But the first lady of Great Britain came up with a cunning plan that seemed perfect: she disguised herself by wearing a military jacket, sunglasses and a leather cap! The story goes that the princess disguised as a man easily entered the scandalous establishment ...
Later, a participant in the evening - Cleo Rokos - talked about this in her book:
“We slowly made our way through the crowd until we finally got to the bar. We laughed and nudged each other like naughty schoolchildren! "
“When we entered the club, we thought,“ Damn! Obviously, this is Princess Diana! She could be exposed at any minute ... "But people just seemed not to pay attention to her ... And she liked it!"
“Diana and Freddie giggled all evening. Later they ordered white wine and beer. Looking at her in the twilight, we decided that the most famous icon of the modern world could just ... Just pass for an eccentrically dressed gay model! "
By that time, Diana was not just the future Queen of England: she was perhaps the most famous woman in the world. Their wedding to Prince Charles was watched on television by a staggering 750 million people - more than 16% of the world's population at the time! And yes, this day has been declared a national holiday in the UK. The paparazzi hunted Lady Dee's photos wherever she went. Each of her movements was carefully analyzed and published in the tabloids ...
The royal was a big fan of such rock stars as Elton John, Freddie Mercury ... And if their relationship with Elton was well documented, then the friendship with Freddie largely remained unnoticed ... In any case, until 2013, when actress Cleo Rocos told an incredible story about this couple in her memoirs.
Diana's relationship with the royal family finally soured after she divorced Charles. And although she was staying at Kensington Palace, she made sure there were "spy cameras" installed throughout the residence. This was later confirmed by journalist Andrew Morton:
"She left the walls of Kensington Palace, with its spy cameras and overly vigilant courtiers, and headed for her favorite stretch of beach on the Dorset coast ..."
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Diana is one of the earliest and most influential defenders of LGBT people
Despite Queen Elizabeth's objections, Diana often spoke on behalf of AIDS patients at a time when the public (often due to erroneous press reports and medical misinformation) was full of misconceptions about the nascent plague ... In 1987, Diana was talked about all over the world when she met and without gloves shook hands with a dying AIDS patient at the opening of the UK's first clinic dedicated to treating the disease. At the time, many people thought that HIV and AIDS were still transmitted through superficial physical contact, which made her gesture a shock to millions ...
Diana has visited hospitals around the world and has also made donations to the National AIDS Foundation and other charities. She continued to hug patients and explain to the world that it was safe.
“HIV does not make people dangerous, so you can shake hands and hug them. They really need our help ... ”, - said Diana in 1991.
Her beliefs were clearly passed on to her children: Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle spoke openly on social media about LGBT rights.
Lady Diana was a close friend of fashion designer Gianni Versace, who was killed just a few months before Diana died in a car accident ... Surprisingly, the death of the princess was the impetus for the song "No-One but You (Only the Good Die Young)" group Queen. This is the only song recorded by the group after Freddie's death without involving other artists.
In conclusion…
Over the years, there have been a lot of speculations about Diana's trip to the famous Vauxhall tavern. Was it really? Or is it just a beautiful story to read? Here is what Freddie's assistant, Peter Freestone, said about this:
“Perhaps, but in reality it was not. After 1980, Freddie had very little in common with Kenny Everett. If he had gone with the princess to the club, he would never have shut up about it. He would have told this story to everyone who came to his house. Who knows, but I think that this is not true, because it would be very difficult for Diana to slip out of the palace ... And this disguise ... The paparazzi saw her so often that no costume would have saved her ... "
Most likely, we will never know if this amazing night actually happened ... But we would love to think so!
Original column published on the blog. MUSIC on Yandex.Zen
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