Inside racy club where Kate & Wills downed ‘crack babies’, pop stars splashed £360 on fake champagne…& Meghan is BANNED
FROM hosting five limousines full of groupies for one of the US's biggest bands to creating Princess Kate's favourite cocktail 'Crack Baby', London nightclub Boujis was like no other.
Dubbed the "home to the stars" by its owner Carlo Carello, the swanky South Kensington club has welcomed everyone from pop royalty Rihanna and Prince to Prince William, model Cara Delevingne and F1 ace Lewis Hamilton.
This week Carello, who was Princess Beatrice's first boyfriend, revealed the nightclub will open a new venue called Gallery, near the gates of Kensington Palace - reawakening memories from 20 years ago when the bar was bustling with the planet's most recognisable faces.
Despite the Boujis brand being a favourite hangout of the Royal Family - Carello claims one of William and Kate's first dates took place there - he was clear one guest was barred: Meghan Markle.
"Everyone is welcome - except Meghan," Carello, an old friend of Prince Harry's, said. "I don't like her."
So as Boujis' bosses gets ready to open another club, The Sun looks back at some of the club's most outrageous antics; from impromptu Snoop Dogg gigs to Will Smith's son making his UK rapping debut.
READ MORE FEATURES
The legendary tales and iconic guestlists from Boujis, which opened in 2002, are as long as some of its bar tabs.
The late socialite Tara Palmer Tompkinson claimed to have "lived there", ex-Liverpool FC midfielder Steven Gerrard ran up a tab of thousands and Rihanna danced on the seats with her younger brother Rorry.
And the bar's most enduring relationship was with the Royal Family.
Princes William and Harry enjoyed sessions there, downing £250 bottles of vodka and their favourite cocktails at table 11, which was reserved for them whenever they were in.
Most read in Royals
In 2007 Harry, then 22, landed himself in hot water with the army after a particularly boozy night out with TV presenter Natalie Pinkham.
He was snapped outside the club at 3am, falling into the gutter before being dragged on to his feet and into a car by one of his pals.
He also swore at photographers outside the club, with one saying he lunged at them and "tried to shove me over."
And a security source said senior army officials hauled him over the coals over the "unacceptable behaviour" after the incident.
Prince William also took Kate to the club, during the early days of their romance.
And in 2007 - after briefly splitting with the Prince - Kate turned up and partied the night away.
Onlookers were stunned to see the future Queen Consort without William, but taking to the club with sister Pippa, the pair partied any blues away.
Royal correspondent Katie Nicholl said in a report for Vanity Fair in 2010: "Many in Kate’s position might have moped, but she was in no mood to indulge in prolonged self-pity.
“Instead, she put on a brave face and a thigh-skimming minidress and partied.”
Underscoring how important a venue Boujis was to those in the upper echelons of Buckingham Palace, Omid Scobie, co-author of the controversial 2020 book Finding Freedom, claimed he had also partied there with the royals.
During an appearance on James O'Brien's Full Disclosure podcast, he said: "I was very much into clubbing and partying – just in my own private life with my friends – but it really crossed over with the royals, because you'd go to a club and Prince Harry was there, Kate was there, William was there, and I remember it was very annoying because whenever they'd come in the VIP room would be like shut off."
Pop legends
Among the most legendary tales of Boujis, which was first closed in 2016 after a cheap booze scam, Carello recalled one Sunday night when he received a phone call from Lady Gaga's manager.
The Poker Face hitmaker turned up with a fleet of Lamborghini Guiados, and stepped out "in this white leotard with her whole entourage".
He told The Standard: "It was one of those nights when everything just went right and was magic.
"At 1.30 in the morning, she plays this intimate set for about an hour, in the middle of the crowd, touching everyone, engaging everyone and that’s when - in terms of hospitality gold - when you know you’ve created something special.
"That has to be one of my most iconic moments.”
According to Carello, this type of request happened "the whole time".
In 2023, he told The Times: "We had all the agents on speed dial. [Celebrities] felt safe at Boujis. It was a place they could come and let their hair down.”
Perhaps the most shocking story to emerge from the venue was in 2016 when it was claimed staff had been caught on camera pouring cheap prosecco into empty bottles that had previously contained plush Don Perignon champagne.
Bottles would then be sold for an eye-watering £360, with customers including Prince Louis' godfather Guy Pelly forking out for the bubbly.
Carello recalled other surprising visits to the haunt, including a "very sweet" night where Will Smith's son Jaden made his European concert debut there.
"Weird" nights also saw a Baywatch theme enjoyed by revellers including David 'the Hoff' Hasselhoff himself and one evening when the American rockers Metallica pulled up in a fleet of five blacked-out limousines - one for each band member - accompanied by a bevvy of bikini-clad girls.
Though not royalty, the singer Prince also enjoyed the luxuries on offer, with the "very demanding" Purple Rain singer wanting to enjoy the vibe more as an observer than a participant.
Corello says "he very much enjoyed sitting at the table and taking it all in,” before asking to be escorted from the back door under a purple umbrella.
While an extravagant vibe was a cornerstone of Boujis, so were its cocktails, which have since taken on mythical status.
Drinks such as the 'Faboujis Eggs' - a favourite of Rihanna - or Princess Kate's most cherished 'Crack Baby' livener, which was also behind Harry's messier nights.
It contains glugs of passion fruit juice, vodka, Chambord, strawberries and brut champagne - and is designed to be downed in one shot.
The royal favourite became so popular staff would conjure up the 'Crack Baby's Daddy' - a giant egg-shaped ice sculpture filled with 40 Crack Baby shots and a bottle of champagne, all for the price of £350.
Barmy requests
During its heyday, the bar became so sought-after that punters desperate for membership and would muscle in and stuff handfuls of cash into the Carello's hands - including one who gave him £5,000 in pound coins.
He told The Times: "We had all sorts... people waving their black Amexes on the front door. It was a constant juggling act of which calls you picked up and which you didn't."
The owner also endured a series of barmy requests from VIPs - including one occasion when a guest wanted zebras outside the venue for a party.
The guest was bluntly told: "It wasn't the best idea and we ended up with fire eaters."
To mark its 10th birthday, Boujis Dolls took to the dancefloor, parading only in their gold underwear and nipple tassels.
A friend of Carello's claimed that socialite Paris Hilton stopped the club's dancefloor during one mad moment, getting partygoers to help her as she desperately tried to find a lost diamond earring.
"It could be true," Carello would remember.
Others to wander through Boujis include Cameron Diaz, who in 2009 was spotted dancing the night away with romantic comedy The Holiday co-star Jude Law.
The pair were seen having a "whale of a time and were dancing around to DJ Sam Young".
Four years later it was Umbrella singer Rihanna and model Cara Delevingne who partied hard at Boujis to mark the first UK rap gig of the Jamaican star's brother Rorry.
A source told EntertainmentWise: "Cara arrived with Rihanna, she was a little worse for wear when she got there but she still managed to get up and dance.
"Rihanna stayed at the club until the lights were switched on, she danced on the seats with Cara and her brother most of the night."
Their entourage's bill included bottles of vodka, Ciroc Coconut, champagne and Hennessy.
The source added: "Rihanna danced on the seats most of the night with Cara, and when her brother came off stage the group ordered more champagne."
Reflecting on Boujis' place in London history, Carello would say the club remains the capital's "most famous".
It was "the home of the stars" and "provided so many fond memories, for so many people, for such a long time".
Prince William and Kate Middleton's royal wedding
April 29, 2011 marked the day that Kate and William got married.
They tied the knot at Westminster Abbey in London in a televised event which was watched by millions all over the world.
Prince Harry served as his brother's best man, with both of them dressing in traditional military uniforms.
Kate, meanwhile wore a French Chantily and English Cluny lace Alexander McQueen by Sarah Burton gown.
Kate later changed into a second white strapless evening gown for a dinner hosted by Prince Charles with roughly 300 guests in attendance.
In 2023, it was confirmed that B London - colloquially referred to as Boujis 2.0 - would be reopening, sparking more than 40,000 hits to its website in just under 24 hours.
"It's just people remembering the recollection of debaucherous, hedonistic, crazy nights," Carello told The Standard.
And this week, the brains behind B London said Boujis 3.0, known as Gallery, would open in the coming months in the building which once housed Mahiki.
Mahiki was previously owned by Carello and Boujis 3.0 co-owner Jake Parkinson-Smith, who described how the previous bar was a "safe space" for royals such as Prince Kate, Prince William, Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice.
The club is set to feature a Cuban-style bar and a pizzeria called Carlo's Pizza.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
And even the DJ could have a royal connection.
Earl Spencer's son Ned - the cousin of Princes William and Harry - is tipped to be taking a spot at the decks.
