That One Time Freddie Mercury and Princess Di (in Drag) Went to a Gay Bar
With August 31 marking the 25th anniversary of her untimely death, we are resharing one of our favorite anecdotes about the beloved former princess.
This story not only illustrates what a great ally Diana was — it also gives us a peak into the lesser known humorous and fun-loving side of her personality.
In the late 1980s, at the height of fear and stigma around HIV, Diana regularly visited AIDS wards in hospitals. She was famously photographed shaking hands with a man who was in the advanced stages of HIV, which shocked many at the time — but also helped start a global conversation about the need to learn the facts about the virus.Diana was also a lifelong ally and supporter of the LGBTQ+ community, and one particularly amusing story illustrates this beautifully, and shows that beyond the princess, the advocate, and the celebrity… was a human being.
And a pretty fun one at that.The anecdote comes from a book called The Power of Positive Drinking, written by comedian Cleo Rocos.
