By Emma Jolliff
New Zealand's most famous transgender identity, the "Queen of Queens", Carmen, has died at the age of 75.
She died of kidney failure in hospital in Sydney.
Carmen was without doubt gay royalty
"Australia might like to have a bit of a claim to her but she was definitely Kiwi, definitely Maori and definitely out and proud," says Georgina Beyer.
Ms Beyer, the country's first openly transsexual mayor and MP, calls Carmen a pioneer "for significant minorities, marginalised minorities and of course the transgender and gay community".
Born Trevor Rupe in Taumaranui, she became Carmen after leaving the army and moving to Sydney in the 1950s, where she entered the sex industry.
She returned to New Zealand in the '60s and opened several businesses, most notably Carmen's International Coffee Lounge.
In her own words, Carmen did it all.
"I was a prostitute, I was a madam, I ran brothels, I ran a coffee bar and nightclub, I was a dancer here and entertainer here and in Australia, I was a snake and belly dancer."
Much of it while prostitution and homosexuality were still illegal.
Carmen wasn't afraid to speak her mind and was fond of sailors.
"Beautiful, lovely, they were gorgeous, I can't remember how many I had," she said.
It wasn't just her own lifestyle which courted controversy – Carmen was famously hauled before a select committee after alleging there were homosexuals in the Muldoon government.
In 1977 she ran for mayor of Wellington.
"I wonder if it wasn't for people like her whether or not someone like me might have been able to achieve the public life I later did," says Ms Beyer.
"No matter what she might have done as a profession, she was a lady and everybody loved her," says good friend Dana di Milo, who says Carmen's death marks the end of an era.
"It's very sad for us, our kaumatua's gone."
Carmen died this morning from kidney failure in Sydney.
3 News