The Princess of Wales dressed in baggy military clothing, dark glasses and managed to go unnoticed
“I want to break free”. Freddy Mercury, lead singer of Queen, and Diana Spencer were good friends, both were rebellious, and they wanted the freedom to be as they were, without established canons. He was surely her confidant and her accomplice to her, as he showed on an iconic night when he dressed her up to go to a bar.
This does not appear in The Crown series and was in fact an unconfirmed rumor for many years. Rami Malek (who played the singer in his biopic) recounted this curious version that he found amusing. However, actress Cleo Rocos confirmed it in her 2013 reissued book that she has the details of that night in 1988.
At that time Lady Di was 27 years old and had been married for eight years, she became a friend of the presenter Keny Everett, whom she admired since she was a child. They began to frequent meetings and meals.
“There was always great excitement and anxiety when receiving an invitation to a joyful lunch with Princess Diana. She was a huge fan of the Kenny Everett Show and we had known each other for years. She had a lovely, light-hearted sense of humor,” begins Rocos' account in her book The Power of positive drinking (Square Peg, 2013).
Kenny Everett, in turn, had known Freddie Mercury at least since they published Bohemian Rhapsody in 1975. After the rejection by the EMI label, it was Everett who bet on Queen playing the song constantly on the radio.
“On one occasion, we met for lunch at the Bombay Brasserie in Kensington. She arrived smiling and was clearly looking forward to that lunch. There were no visible bodyguards,” the actress recalled, “I had been toying with the idea of a Kir Royale — a cream of cassis and champagne-based drink — but Diana suggested that we all have a Bellini — champagne and peach juice — since there they made a very good one.'”
Between conversations about “which stars and celebrities were doing what and with whom” and “palace gossip”, Cleo Rocos remembers that lunch as an instance in which laughter abounded. Until today, the secrets exchanged at that table have never been made public”, the artist recounts in the aforementioned book.
As Rocos recalls, after lunch they went to Kenny's penthouse to watch the American sitcom The Golden Girls. “Kenny had a collection of dusters that looked like an explosion of dancing exotic girls in the corner of his living room. I went to the kitchen to make myself a champagne cocktail only to find Diana and Kevin dancing to the Gypsy Kings."
That night, Kenny and Cleo had made plans to meet up with another friend: Freddie Mercury. It was the year 1988 and Queen's voice enjoyed success with hits like "Killer Queen", "Somebody to Love" and "We will rock you", so going out to a bar would not be calm since all eyes would be about them.
"Kenny called Freddie on the phone and told him to come over early as Diana was with us watching The Golden Girls." Mercury was Everett's neighbor, so before long Freddie, Diana, Cleo, and Kenny were sitting on the couch in front of the TV.
According to the actress's account, after a while, each of them took a character from the comedy and personified it with invented "dirty" plots. "I dare not tell you the synopsis, but it was magnificently depraved and we had an uncontrollable laugh."
According to Rocos' account, Diana was laughing behind the couch when she asked what Kenny, Cleo, and Freddie's plans were for the night. The “We are the champions” singer replied that they would go to a gay bar called Vauxhall Tavern. Diana's face lit up mischievously and she asked to go with them.
“It wasn't a good idea,” Rocos said in her book. Kenny tried to talk her out of it by pointing out that fights sometimes happened. "What would the headlines be if you were caught in the middle of a bar fight?" But Diana persisted and looked at Freddie. "Come on, let's let the woman have some fun," the singer said, unable to contain his laughter.
“She just wanted the thrill of going in undetected, to order a drink, and then she would leave right away, she promised,” Rocos says.
They all got to work and Keny brought clothes from her closet. Diana dressed in a camouflage military jacket, tied up her hair, and put on an aviator cap and sunglasses. "Looking at her in the twilight of her we decided that the most famous fashion icon of the modern world could perhaps pass for an eccentrically dressed gay male model."
Going through a crowd of leather and thongs, as described by Rocos, they reached the bar. Diana ordered a white wine and a beer and laughed with Freddie, though he moved to divert attention from her. “Once the adventure was complete, we all looked at each other, united in our triumphant quest. We did it! Going to a bar has never been so exciting and fun.”
But as the Princess of Wales anticipated, it was a rather brief outing. They stayed a little longer than expected, but they quickly left, called a taxi, and together they headed to Kensington Palace to drop Diana off.
“The cheerful queens lining up outside the bar unknowingly waved back as her Queen of Hearts waved goodbye to them. No person discovered us, ”recorded the actress.
The next day, Diana sent the borrowed clothes to Kenny's house with a thank-you note to the whole group. “We must repeat it,” she wrote in her own handwriting.
The feminine Diana began from there to wear masculine clothes from time to time. But it is a mystery if she ever repeated such a curious evening, free of paparazzi.
