Royal Vauxhall

20 years after that fateful night in Paris, Royal Vauxhall commemorates Diana’s death by reliving the night of her life.

It’s 1988 and London is partying hard under the spectre of AIDS, the scrutiny of the press and the promise of a summer of love.

When Princess Diana dreams of a wild night out away from relentless paparazzi and ruthless Royals, her unlikely best friends Freddie Mercury and Kenny Everett know there is only one place to take her…the only trouble is: how the hell are they going to get one of the most famous faces in the world into the RVT without blowing her cover?

Royal Vauxhall is a wild romp of a musical which plays out the imagined events of the true story of the night Freddie Mercury and Kenny Everett took Princess Diana in drag to the Royal Vauxhall Tavern. The story, widely reported in the press following the revelation by Cleo Rocos in her 1998 autobiography, is used as a springboard to delve into the lives of three of the most famous and best loved faces of Britain in the 1980s. The trio’s night at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern is the stuff of urban legend. But this actually happened. Kenny and Freddie took Lady Di clubbing at the RVT. Desmond O’Connor’s irreverent yet insightful new musical envisages what they learnt about themselves and each other and how it would shock and propel them through the final years of their tragically shortened lives.
This fun (and funny) musical – which juxtaposes a celebration of 1980s alternative culture, alongside the more serious issues it confronts – enjoyed a triumphant four week run on the Edinburgh Fringe, where it delighted audiences and critics alike.