What REALLY happened the night Malcolm Fraser lost his trousers in a seedy Memphis hotel? As nation mourns the death of former PM at 84 - the incident he refused to ever talk about

 Malcolm Fraser wandered into foyer of Memphis hotel in October 1986  PM was wearing nothing but his pants and claimed to have been drugged  It has become one of Australia's most intriguing political scandals  Mr Fraser had always refused to comment on the notorious incident  He had gone for a drink after giving speech to Memphis Economic Club  Mr Fraser always maintained it wasn't just a wild drunken American night

By EMILY CRANE FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA PUBLISHED: 11:57 EST, 20 March 2015 | UPDATED: 22:54 EST, 20 March 2015

Malcolm Fraser was etched in history when he became a hero Prime Minister for the Liberal Party and again when he boldly ditched his party to cross the political divide. But wherever Mr Fraser's name comes up, so too does the notorious incident in Memphis, Tennessee, in October 1986 when he lost his pants. The former Prime Minister, who died aged 84 on Friday, wandered into the foyer of a Memphis hotel frequented by prostitutes and drug dealers at 7am wearing nothing but a towel.

+7 Malcolm Fraser wandered into the foyer of a Memphis hotel frequented by prostitutes and drug dealers in October 1986 wearing nothing but a towel - the tale has become one of the most intriguing political scandals

He was in America to give a speech to the Memphis Economic Club in his role as the head of the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group when he decided to go for a drink

It has become one of Australia's most intriguing political scandals given Mr Fraser could not recall what happened to him and he always refused to comment on it. 'I wish I'd never been to bloody Memphis,' he told a Sydney newspaper at the time. He was in America to give a speech to the Memphis Economic Club in his role as the head of the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group. Mr Fraser decided to go for a drink at the Peabody Hotel after his duties 'hoping to find some of the famous live blues venues', according to his memoir, Malcolm Fraser: The Political Memoirs, published in 2010.

+7 It has become one of Australia's most intriguing political scandals given Mr Fraser could not recall what happened to him and he always refused to comment on it

+7 Mr Fraser decided to go for a drink at the Peabody Hotel after his duties 'hoping to find some of the famous live blues venues' but he awoke the next day at the Admiral Benbow Hotel - 'a notoriously seedy dive'

+7 His wife Tamie Fraser (left) shed light on the scandal for the first time back in 2007 agreeing he had been drugged and claimed he was probably 'set up' by his fellow delegates But he awoke the next day at the Admiral Benbow Hotel - 'a notoriously seedy dive'. He had checked in after midnight and paid with a $100 bill. He was missing his pants, a $10,000 Rolex, passport, wallet and $600 cash. Mr Fraser had always maintained that he was drugged and denied it was just a wild drunken American night. Reports that he walked into the hotel lobby wearing a towel claiming he had been drugged were greeted with amusement back home in Australia. His wife Tamie Fraser shed light on the scandal for the first time back in 2007.

+7 Mr Fraser has always maintained that he was drugged and denied it was just a wild drunken American night

+7 Reports that he walked into the hotel lobby wearing a towel claiming he had been drugged were greeted with amusement back home in Australia She claims he was probably 'set up' by his fellow delegates, according to The Australian. 'They were having him on. Poor old boy. Someone must have slipped him a mickey finn as soon as he walked in. He rang me up and told me about it when he got back to his own hotel. There was this awful voice,' Mrs Fraser said. Ms Fraser shunned claims her husband spent the night with a prostitute. 'He might have gone off with someone here or there at some time but he wouldn't go to a bar to meet someone on the off chance -- they were setting him up. Poor old boy. It's really horrible. He was so embarrassed. And still is.' The concierge at the hotel, a woman named Maryanne, remembered seeing Mr Fraser trying to shield himself with the towel, the Daily Telegraph reported. 'They're not real big,' she said of the towels. 'And I do remember he was fairly big man.'