Last Updated on 19 August 2025 by Colette
This post features gifted experiences
When you mix Princess Diana with drag queens and stir it up with a whole load of pop, you know you’re going to be in for a fun night!
The Diana Mixtape is a brand new show (part concert, part musical, part drag performance) telling the story of Diana, the People’s Princess. If you’ve seen that other show about six royal wives, then think that but with less budget and more of other people’s songs.
Heading into the show, I didn’t really know what to expect – obviously I know Diana’s story, how could you not? And, as a Drag Race fan, drag superstars Courtney Act, Divina de Campo, Rose, Kitty Scott-Claus and Priyanka are all familiar faces – but I really wasn’t sure how this was all going to come together on stage.
Basically all five queens are Diana – and take on the role of telling the story of her marriage to Charles through a mixture of spoken word and well chosen pop songs (think Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, Dua Lipa and Kylie Minogue) all backed up with Di-conic fashion references (we LOVED the revenge dress and thought projecting Diana herself onto the wedding dress moment was genius) and brilliant choreography (favourite moment goes to Piryanka stomping on a walking pad singing Doja Cat’s Boss Bitch).
What I would say about the song choices is that, although they fit really well with the story, with them not being an original score, I do think the show risks not having the longevity it might otherwise have had – Chappell Roan’s Pink Pony Club really doesn’t feel like it will stand the test of time . . .
Lucinda Lawrence as Camilla was absolutely brilliant as was Noel Sullivan as Charles – their “sexy romp” scene to Dua Lipa’s Physical was hilariously uncomfortable and Chloe says it has ruined the song for her now. Keala Settle as Queen Elizabeth was awesome – both for the humour and her incredible voice (you know her from singing This is Me in The Greatest Showman and, more recently Wicked)!
The Diana Mixtape is very much about Diana, her relationship with Charles and the aftermath of that – Princes William and Harry are barely mentioned beyond a sly dig about Harry absolutely not being James Hewitt’s son or the Queen mentioning the need for an heir and a spare . . . I found this a bit odd really as her boys were so very important to her but Chloe said she thought it made sense in terms of it being more about her as a wife than a mother.
Whilst the performances and costumes were brilliant, I really did think the set could have done with with a bit more pizazz – essentially the whole show was set against a screen with various backgrounds projected onto it which give it a sort of school production feel. There were times when there was nothing on the screen at all and and you were left with two people singing on an empty stage. I know the performance is more concert than play so I suppose the lighting and background fit in with that but I would have just loved something a little more camp, a little more theatre dahling.
There were a couple of issues with the sound – at one point the music was too loud which made it difficult to hear what was being said and there were a couple of technical issues but the queens handled them with humour and professionalism so that we just laughed along with them.
Although the show is billed as a love letter to Diana, it doesn’t shy away from taking the mick out of her too – but as the queens said at the end of the show, “she would have f*cking loved to have a drag show all about her” and I think they were right!
This is a 90 minute performance with no interval so make sure your bladder is empty and your glass full before you take your seats (I was really disappointed by the number of people getting up and down in front of us tonight!)
The Diana Mixtape is at The Lowry until Thursday 21st August.
You can read more about theatre in Manchester here:
Our guide to theatre in and around Manchester
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