Princess Diana was disguised as a male model by Queen singer Freddie Mercury and TV star Kenny Everett so she could be smuggled into a notorious gay bar, according to a new book.
The crazy caper involving Freddie Mercury (left) and TV star Kenny Everett saw Diana (centre) dressed like a ‘beautiful young man’ to get her into London pub The Vauxhall Tavern (right), according to Everett’s one-time side-kick Cleo Rocos. ‘We thought she would be discovered at any minute but people blanked her. She loved it,’ said Rocos.
The bizarre story was revealed in a book called The Power of Positive Drinking by Cleo Rocos, who who-starred in the Kenny Everett Television Show.
According to the Sunday Times, Rocos tells how Mercury and Everett dressed Diana in an army jacket, black cap and sunglasses before venturing into the Royal Vauxhall Tavern in south London.
‘When we walked in … we felt she was obviously Princess Diana and would be discovered at any minute. But people just seemed to blank her. She sort of disappeared. But she loved it,’ Rocos said.
The venue was packed, but the presence of Mercury, Everett and Rocos helped divert attention and Diana was able to order drinks at the bar before the group left, 20 minutes later.
The Royal Vauxhall Tavern is one of London’s most notorious gay bar
Rocos does not know if the ‘male model’ was propositioned during the visit, which took place around 1988, but adds: ‘She did look like a beautiful young man. She was always a very fit girl, so they might have thought, “There’s a nice young man with pert buttocks”.’
In her book, serialised in The Sunday Times’s Style magazine, Rocos also recounts how she and Alan Carr, the comedian, raided a brothel in Soho in London to rescue the women working there, but were rebuffed.
On another occasion, Rocos and Everett were invited to a reception at No 10. They were waiting for a waitress to top up their glasses when Everett spotted one and tried to attract her attention.
‘Waitress, waitress,’ he cried, before tugging at her arm. It was Margaret Thatcher.
‘He did apologise profusely. However, the lady was not for turning again and she didn’t go and get us a drink.’
