The likes of Sir Ian McKellen, Graham Norton and Paul O'Grady supported the campaign. Recently, in 2015, the pub was saved from redevelopment and given Grade II listed status after a huge campaign to prevent it from being destroyed. Your phone number won't be shared with other members of the group. You can reply with the word STOP at any time. You must do this or you will not receive the messages. Then add the number to your phone contacts book as 'MyLondon'. To receive one message a day with the main headlines, as well as breaking news alerts, send one of the following to 07900 342671 on WhatsApp, depending on where you want to receive news from: We've set up a new WhatsApp group so you can receive the latest London headlines straight to your phone. Today there is no stopping the RVT as it continues to host incredible events including drag nights and other alternative performances. Rocos wrote in her memoir: "When we walked in we felt she would be discovered at any minute. 17 places in London you'll probably struggle to pronounce correctly.11 beaches we cannot wait to get a suntan on once this is all finally over.The royal princess decided she wanted to join the others on the night out and so they dressed her in a leather cap, aviators and a camouflage jacket and actually managed to smuggle her in without anyone noticing who she was. Those friends were comedian Kenny Everett, Queen front man Freddie Mercury, performer Cleo Rocos and none other than Diana, Princess of Wales. Perhaps its most famous moment happened on a random Friday night in 1988.įour friends were drinking in a flat and decided they wanted to go out to the RVT. Princess Diana once snuck into the RVT (Image: Coventry Telegraph Archive) With the pub's performance scene really taking off during the 1940s, it has played host to LGBT punters and performers since the 1940s and today it continues to put on events and club nights to support this community.įrom their regular Duckie club night to cabaret to a Harry Potter quiz, it organises so many amazing events which both locals and tourists flock to. London coronavirus: All the businesses that will remain open during lockdown.BTS will stream live Korean lessons during coronavirus lockdown.They even played host to London's first ever known drag queen, Princess Seraphina, who could often be found in Vauxhall in the 1730s. The gardens were a place that people from all classes, backgrounds and identities could have fun together. The RVT was built back in 1863 and named after the Royal Gardens, Vauxhall - the famous pleasure gardens that had stood where the pub was built until 1859. The RVT puts on regular events such as drag shows, club nights and their recent Harry Potter quiz (Image: Tom Morris/Wikimedia Commons) Where it began