She wants to break free… Princess Diana and Freddie Mercury
It’s one of the most legendary occasions in the history of a legendary venue – and now it’s being brought back to life at one of that same venue’s legendary ongoing weekly events.
A new musical will depict the night during the 1980s when Queen frontman Freddie Mercury and TV comedian Kenny Everett took their friend Princess Diana out to London’s oldest LGBTQ pub, the Royal Vauxhall Tavern – having first dragged her up as a boy.
The show, called Royal Vauxhall, is the brainchild of London cabaret scene favourite Desmond O’Connor (no relation to the mahogany-hued TV presenter), whose previous musicals include the satires Toxic Bankers and Failed States.
The cast includes Matthew Floyd Jones (aka Frisky of Frisky & Mannish), Stuart Saint (from Dick! The Adult Panto and Toxic Bankers) and cabaret performer and RVT regular Claire Benjamin.
The musical is at a workshop stage, with new songs and other material set to be previewed over three nights this month at the Tavern’s regular Tuesday-night event Bar Wotever, where O’Connor is guest host for May.
Bar Wotever, which celebrated its tenth birthday in March, now ranks as one of the world’s longest-running weekly queer and trans-centred performance events. It’s just one part of the Wotever World empire, which also includes Wotever DIY Film Festival; Female Masculinity Appreciation Society and Queer Experiments performance nights at the RVT and Hackney Attic respectively; and Klub Fukk, a ‘playspace for curious and kinky queers’.
Princess Diana’s visit to the Tavern was described by performer Cleo Rocos in her book The Power of Positive Drinking.
According to Rocos, after a night in watching the Golden Girls, “Freddie told [Diana] we were going to the Vauxhall Tavern – a rather notorious gay bar in London. Diana said that she had never heard of it and she’d like to come too. Now this was not a good idea… But it was clear that Diana was in full mischief mode… She just wanted the thrill of going in, undetected”.
So Everett dressed her in military and leather garb and dark glasses and off the four of them went. They achieved their aim of getting to the Tavern, ordering a drink and bundling Diana into a cab without her being recognised.
For O’Connor, the story highlights the way we all have aspects of ourselves we struggle to express, calling it an “exploration of the extent to which one needs to conceal one’s true identity in order to be one’s self”.
“It’s a tale of hiding in public view, outwitting the people who think they know you best and choosing which battles to fight when sharing your identity with an unforgiving world,” he continues.
Or to put it another way, A Royal Night Out meets Pride.
Bar Wotever 10th birthday party (Image by paulgrace-eventphotos.co.uk)
Like Diana, those who make it down to the Tavern on the next three Tuesdays will perhaps get more than they bargain for.
As well as material from Royal Vauxhall, they can expect the usual Bar Wotever mix of local, national and international performers, open-mic spots and community news amid an open and enthusiastic atmosphere.
On Tuesday May 12, there’s a last chance to see a ‘General Erection’ number by drag king act Adam All and Apple Derrieres, plus erstwhile Wotever hosts MIRI and Stephanie Goldberg.
The following week, May 19, also features male bellydancer Snake Boy and singer-songwriter Paul Diello, who combines acoustic folk with melodic synth-pop.
And on May 26 there’s drag from Bambi Boo and electro dance pop in the form of Pop Scultpure from Le Fil.
All in all, Bar Wotever is a truly creative, diverse and progressive space where being relaxed, being expressive and being engaged in the wider world all go together – a bona fide institution that all Londoners should be incredibly proud of.
It’s also further proof of the unique qualities of the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, a venue that continues to offer nights out unlike any other – as a certain HRH could testify.
Click the links for more info about May 12, May 19 and May 26.
