Sarah Ferguson's run-in with police during 'wild' hen party – and how the Queen reacted

Few royal hen parties were as memorable as Sarah Ferguson's! While many members of the royal family chose low-key hen and stag dos at private family homes, the Duchess of York chose a much more public celebration at a nightclub in London with her soon-to-be sister-in-law Princess Diana.

One week before her July 1986 wedding to Prince Andrew, Sarah and Diana dressed up as policewomen which got them into trouble with law enforcement in London.

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"[Diana] was very good with her costume," Sarah remarked on The Kelly Clarkson Show as she promoted her novel, A Most Intriguing Lady. A black and white photo revealed they wore matching uniforms including button-up jackets, checked ties and hats with badges on the front.

Sarah even elaborated that they were wearing grey wigs, regulation stockings and lace-up shoes in her 1996 autobiography, My Story.

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In fact, their costumes were so convincing that they got arrested for "impersonating police officers."

"After assembling just outside the Palace, we pretended to arrest one of our friends (chosen for her fabulous legs), who was playing the promiscuous lady. The duty police at the gates thought this very strange.

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"They called out the parks police, who proceeded to arrest the lot of us – even our protection officer, who played along – for causing a scene outside Buckingham Palace.

"They ushered us into their police van, [and] Diana and I had no intention of resisting. We thought it hysterically funny," she wrote in her autobiography.

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Despite continuing to hide their real identities by twisting their recognisable engagement rings the other way around, the policemen eventually realised they had two members of the royal family inside their car and dropped them at Annabel's to continue their celebrations. 

But that didn't last long as they were kicked out of the private members club for their outfits. "We sat down, and the waiter came up to us and said, 'Excuse me, this is a members club and it's for fun. We don't serve police officers here,'" Sarah told Kelly Clarkson, and Kelly clarified: "They thought you were real police officers? And they kicked you out?" 

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After their "wild" evening out, they ended the night by locking the palace gates to prevent Prince Andrew from returning from his stag do, which took place at Aubrey House.

While Sarah kept these activities quiet from the public for several years, she did later spill details of the night to her former mother-in-law, the Queen. 

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"She thought it was reasonably amusing. We had got clean away with it. I’d been as naughty as I could be, and still was adored by all," she wrote.

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