Strictly Come Dancing judge Craig Revel Horwood was once left “very upset” after losing a set of royal coffee mugs gifted to him by Prince Andrew.
The legendary dance veteran revealed in his 2018 autobiography, ‘In Strictest Confidence’ that the mugs were stolen by a “down-and-out drug addict” after performing in Annie on the West End.
Craig, who celebrates his 60th birthday tomorrow, said his sister Sue was visiting from Australia at the time and that the backpack while they were outside the theatre in Piccadilly.
He said: “Just after opening night we went to the pub next to the theatre in Piccadilly. While I was outside chatting on the phone, a down-and-out drug addict stole my backpack from right under Sue’s nose.
“The crafty joker somehow managed to snatch it without her seeing. Once we realised it had gone, we ran around Piccadilly looking for it, to no avail.
“I had my wallet in the backpack which had quite a bit of cash and I also had a set of beautiful royal coffee mugs from the Palace, given to me by Prince Andrew, no less.”
Prince Andrew (Photo by Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)
(Image: GETTY)
Craig was left devastated by the theft, writing that he had planned to gift the mugs to his mother. The TV star said that the police interviewed him at the theatre the following day, just as he was getting ready to play Miss Hannigan.
“They must have thought it was one of those crazy days on the beat, because at the start of the interview I was Craig Revel Horwood and by the end of it I had completely transformed into Miss Hannigan,” Craig wrote.
Thankfully, police were able to locate his stolen backpack at McDonald’s the very next day, but the money in the wallet and the royal mugs gifted to him by the Duke of York were nowhere to be seen.
Despite believing the mugs were “irreplaceable”, Craig said his PA Clare was able to get in touch with Buckingham Palace who were “nice enough to replace them”.
The theatre director has close links with the Royal Family, having been invited to the Royal Enclosure at Royal Ascot in 2018 and meeting Queen Camilla a number of times through their work with the National Osteoporosis Society.
Craig, who started his career as a dancer in Melbourne before moving to London, has been an ever-present on BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing since its inception in 2004.
The former drag queen is well-known for being notoriously difficult for the celebrity dancers to please. However, Despite his apparently discerning demeanor towards the celebrities, Craig told Kate Thornton’s White Wine Question Time podcast that he was “misunderstood”.
He said: “I get obviously misunderstood on a programme like Strictly Come Dancing. I think only because I have 10 seconds to say what’s wrong with the dance.
“And that’s tough, you know? So I have to be really quick. I’ve got to be to the point. You know, if I was coaching them, I could look on X Factor, you’d get coaching.
“So you’ve got an opportunity to make them better. But on Strictly, I’m just there, literally wearing a judge’s wig and holding paddles.”