Ambush Magazine is pleased to announce that Athena Jewelle will reign as King Cake Queen XXX over the Krewe of Queenateenas. Jewelle will reign as The Phoenix Queen.
Jewelle was truly shocked when she was informed of the decision. “I never thought I would ever be a King Cake Queen,” she said later. The remark is characteristic of her. Normally introverted and shy, Jewelle’s humility is transformed into fierceness when she performs. Her first drag performance was at The Spotlight in Mobile. The number was Patti LaBelle’s version of “Over the Rainbow” and it was a revelation—not only for the audience, but for Jewelle herself.
Like Dorothy, Jewelle comes from humble origins. Raised by her grandparents in Thomasville, Alabama, she lost them at a young age. Her grandfather, a retired police officer, died when she was seven. Her grandmother, a schoolteacher, passed away when Jewelle was sixteen. She then went to live with relatives in Mobile, but that didn’t last long. Jewelle found herself homeless for a year until she met a gay couple who owned a bar called The Cruise Club. The couple gave her a job as a bartender and door person, and they also let her live with them for a year and a half.
During that time, she met a friend who worked at Café Lafitte in Exile during Mardi Gras and the two came to New Orleans for the big celebration in 2007. After a brief relationship in Charlotte, North Carolina, didn’t work out, Jewelle decided to move to New Orleans. “I used to come for Southern Decadence, and I’ve always loved the city,” she noted. Jewelle secured a job as a cleaning person at the Bourbon Pub, where she worked for ten years.
Unlike many drag queens, Jewelle is not into pageants. She said, “I’m not a big pageant show person. I have a better time doing a show than a pageant.” Nevertheless, she did reign as an Amon Ra Prom Queen and she recently won Miss River Cities America. But as for titles, that’s about it. She prefers performing to competing.
Jewelle has a gentle spirit and a quiet resolve born of a well-forged resiliency. Of all the obstacles she has overcome, none can compare to the loss of her son Darius, who died in a car accident when he was only nine years old. “It’s been decades, but it still hurts. There are still days when I just break down and cry. I think of him when I perform. I think of his face, and it lights me up. It helps.”
Jewelle’s first official duty in her new role will be representing the Krewe of Queenateenas at the annual “Meeting of the Courts” at the Krewe de la Rue Royale Revelers’ Twelfth Night Party on January 6. Queenateenas (and Ambush) founder Rip Naquin conceived of the Meeting of the Courts when he served as Grand Reveler III for the Rue Royale Revelers in 2017. Naquin recalled, “It was a fun way to mock Comus and Rex.” Whereas the meeting of the courts between Comus and Rex signals the conclusion of Carnival, the meeting of the courts between the Rue Royale Revelers and the Queenateenas heralds the arrival of Carnival.
Jewelle will be officially crowned King Cake Queen XXX on February 25 at the annual Krewe of Queenateenas King Cake Queen Coronation Party.
The Krewe of Queenateenas grew out of a Mardi Gras bead toss from the fabled “Ambush Mansion” balcony initiated by Rip and Marsha Naquin-Delain in 1987. The following year, Rip and Marsha narrowed down the guest list. Their good friend Jay Loomis, who would eventually reign as King Cake Queen II, dubbed the group “The Krewe of Queenateenas.” The first King Cake Queen was selected in 1994 and has been an annual feature of gay Carnival since then.
List of King Cake Queens:
1994 I (Name stricken from the record by co-captain Rip Naquin)
1995 II Jay Loomis: Jewel of the Nile
1996 III Smurf Murphy: The Rainbow Queen
1997 IV Reba Douglas: Pearl of the Sea
1998 V Elizabeth “Liz” Simms: The She Devil
1999 VI Christine Cheridon: Czarina
2000 VII Stephanie Williams: Goddess 2000
2001 VIII Phyllis Denmark: The Peacock Queen
2002 IX Lisa Beaumann: The Freedom Queen
2003 X Teryl-Lynn Foxx: The Voodoo Queen
2004 XI (Name stricken from the record by co-captain Rip Naquin): The Dragon Queen
2005 XII Savanna DeLorean: The Amazon Queen
2006 XIII Raven Kennedy: The Diamond Queen
2007 XIV Princesse Stephaney: The Fantasy Queen
2008 XV Marsha Naquin-Delaine: The Fleur de Lis Queen
2009 XVI Tami Tarmac: The Grandee Queen
2010 XVII Opal Masters: The Parisian Queen
2011 XVIII Rona Conners: The Chrysanthemum Queen
2012 XIX Nicole DuBois: The Samba Queen
2013 XX Dusty Debris: The Platinum Queen
2014 XXI Barbara Ella: The Borghese Queen
2015 XXII Aubrey Synclaire: Queen of the Opera
2016 XXII Aubrey Synclaire: Queen of the Opera, Act Two
2017 XXIII Monica Synclaire-Kennedy: The Pride Queen
2018 XXIV Solitaire
2019 XXV Tiffany Alexander: The Silver Anniversary Queen
2020 XXVI Felicia Phillips: The Ruby Queen
2021 XXVI Felicia Phillips: The Covid Queen
2022 XXVII Regina Adams: The Amethyst Queen
2023 XXVIII Bootsie DeVille: Queen of the Neon Labyrinth
2024 XXIX George “Rita George” Roth: The Classic Queen
2025 XXX Athena Jewelle: The Phoenix Queen
