Princess Diana's Rowdy Past: The Night HRH and Rock Legend Freddie Mercury Broke All the Royal Rules

Princess Diana was beloved for her warmth, her dedication to causes that mattered and her devotion to her boys. But every now and then, a royal has to escape the pressures of the palace and sneak off for some fun. And on one legendary night in London, she did just that!

It all started innocently enough, with Diana and her mischievous friends settling in to watch episodes of The Golden Girls, a show they all loved. Joining her were none other than Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, radio DJ Kenny Everett and comedian Cleo Rocos, who later wrote about the wild adventure in her 2014 book The Power of Positive Drinking.

As the champagne flowed, so did the laughter, and by evening, the group was ready to take things up a notch — or ten! When Diana, in her own words, declared she was in "full mischief mode."

Mercury was all in. "Go on, let the girl have some fun!" he urged, and after a little coaxing, they hatched an outrageous plan.

They were going to take the Princess of Wales to one of London's top gay clubs, the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, but there was only one problem: How could the world's most recognizable royal go unnoticed in a bustling hotspot? The answer: Disguise her as a "rather eccentrically dressed gay male model."

Diana jumped at the chance and swapped her royal attire for an army bomber jacket, a baseball cap and a pair of sunglasses. When Rocos saw her, she was amazed. "She did look like a beautiful young man," the actress shared.

The nightclub was packed, but no one batted an eye as Diana — transformed and incognito — sauntered up to the bar, coolly ordering drinks for her friends. Rocos remembers thinking they could be busted any second. "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. "We were nudging each other like naughty schoolchildren. Diana and Freddie were giggling... Once the transaction was completed, we looked at one another, united in our triumphant quest. We did it!"

For the next few days, folks around the palace couldn't help but notice that Diana had an extra bounce in her step and a secret smile on her face, happy that she got away with having a ball in public, in front of hundreds of people, without anyone noticing her!

In 1986, she teamed up with her partner in crime, Sarah Ferguson, and dressed up as police officers for Fergie's pre-wedding arrangements.

"She and I, we laughed a lot. We got into trouble a lot," Ferguson remembered.