Britain's 'most scandalous Spoons' in raunchy cinema starring Queen of Sex after rebel 'waved banner for British nudity'

Britain's 'most scandalous Spoons' was once a raunchy cinema starring the Queen of Sex – after a rebel 'waved the banner for British nudity'.

Wet spoons has surrendered its Prince of Wales pub Cardiff a £1.86 million makeover, but the drunk is hiding a sordid past.

From 1965 to 1984 the pub was a cinema with a capacity of 2,000 people, where erotic films were shown.

The cinema screened movies with titles like “Mondo Sex” and hosting the “Prince of Wales Casino Club” in the basement.

Local Brian Lee told it WalesOnline: “There was a parrot sitting on the stairs and people were blowing cigarette smoke in its face.

'It would get a bit nasty. Apparently they said it was as good as some casinos you would see London.

“A friend of mine had three weeks' wages, which was £79 at the time, and he lost it all in one night.”

On the last night before closing in 1984, the cinema showed “Alexandra, Queen of Sex” and “Boys and Girls Together” as a double bill.

In 1966, Shepherd's Bush killer Harry Roberts was seen hiding in the cinema after killing three Police in West London.

A 12-year-old boy rushed to tell a doorman after spotting Roberts lurking above the stage, sparking a manhunt across South Wales.

The killer was arrested months later on a farm 150 kilometers away from the ordinary cinema.

In the 17th century there was a church on what would later become the site of the common cinema.

For much of the twentieth century, British cinemas were not allowed to show vulgar films.

But in the summer of 1960, pin-up snapper Harrison Marks discovered a clever loophole.

Marks said the censors would approve a film that featured nudity – if the setting was “recognizable as a film.” nudist camp or nature reserve”.

He cheekily told the British Board of Film Censors: “I'm going to wave the banner for British nudists.”

Marks' film “Naked as Nature Intended” showed bikini-clad girls frolicking around Steenhenge and the Cornish seaside resort of Porthcurno.

In the final 20 seconds, glamor model Pamela Greene revealed all – to mark the launch of the British 'nudie' film.

Soon “nudes” were being shown at dingy Soho strip clubs and peep shows.

But as the Swinging Sixties changed Britain, the films with their primitive 'nudist' plots suddenly started to seem a bit old-fashioned.

British soon watched sex scenes on their TV sets, marking the end of the “nudie” era.

But the church was swamped by the Great Flood of 1607 and later abandoned – eventually putting the site to a more profane use.

Nowadays gamblers enjoy theirs pints on what was once the stage of the erotic cinema, overlooked by the VIP box with its red and gold curtain.

Wetherspoons has decorated the pub with old posters and programmes, a modest nod to its seedy past.