When the iconic rock band Queen performed at Live Aid in 1985, Freddie Mercury refused to sit with Charles and Diana in the royal box at Wembley Stadium for one reason
Princess Diana charmed millions of people across the world, including celebrities – but Freddie Mercury seemingly had no interest in schmoozing with royalty.
In 1985, thousands of people gathered at Wembley Stadium for Live Aid: a charity concert to raise money for those struggling with the famine in Ethiopia.
The concert, which was broadcast to more than one billion people around the world, was also attended by royal couple Princess Diana and the then Prince Charles, who watched on from the royal box.
One of the day’s most anticipated performances came from iconic rock band Queen, who have since gone on to perform for royalty many times. Band members Brian May and Roger Taylor went on to headline the late Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee concert in 2022, and both received OBEs throughout their career.
However, during Live Aid, the late Freddie Mercury had no such desire to mix with the royals, opting not to join Taylor and May in the royal box to watch the performance in the company of Charles and Diana.
In an interview with The Express, Freddie’s close friend and long-term assistant, Peter Freestone, revealed that Freddie simply had ‘better’ things to do backstage at Live Aid than mingle with the royals.
He said: “Even at Live Aid, you see Brian May and Roger Taylor in the royal box. Freddie didn’t go. He was more interested in being with friends backstage, talking with Elton John, hanging out with his people. His friends were always the most important to him.”
Despite choosing not to spend his time with Charles and Diana, there has long been a rumour that Freddie Mercury did have a level of friendship with Diana, with the pair allegedly having a wild night together at a gay bar in South London.
According to urban legend, Freddie and Diana struck up a friendship and bonded over their love of the sitcom The Golden Girls, along with celebrities like Rupert Everett and Kenny Everett.
Kenny’s friend Cleo Rocos said: “The group spent the afternoon drinking champagne in front of reruns of The Golden Girls with the sound turned down and improvising show dialogue with a much naughtier storyline.”
The evening quickly got wilder, with Diana allegedly wanting to tag along with the rest of the group as they planned to party the night away at a famous South London gay bar, the appropriately named Royal Vauxhall Tavern.
According to Rocos, they disguised the princess as a man in a baseball cap, sunglasses and army bomber jacket, as she said: “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.”
Despite the years of rumours over the wild night, Peter Freestone debunked the claims as he told Express: “No, not at all. Maybe Diana went with Kenny but Freddie wasn’t there. He never met her.”
