Mary Austin discusses her friendship with Freddie Mercury in an open letter.
In a rare interview, Mary Austin discussed her relationship with her ex-fiance, Freddie Mercury.
Freddie Mercury, the frontman of Queen, and his long-lasting love for his “soulmate” and best friend, Mary Austin, have become one of the most well-known, if peculiar, love tales in British music history.
Freddie Mercury dedicated the song “Love of My Life” to the singer’s ex-fiance, who went on to become the Queen star’s confidante and life partner.
Since his death in an upstairs bedroom in 1991, Freddie Mercury left the property and all of its belongings to the renownedly secretive Mary Austin, who has lived in silence in his beloved London home, Garden Lodge.
Early in 2023, auction house Sotheby’s announced that Mary Austin had taken the unexpected decision to sell nearly all of Freddie’s valuables as well as the house’s belongings in a massive 1,400-item sale. The sale has been labeled “one of the biggest single-owner auctions in years.”
In the Oscar-winning film Bohemian Rhapsody, Mary Austin and the singer’s lifelong love was depicted, and Freddie Mercury famously declared he would love her “until I breathe my last breath.” Most likely, we will age together.
The unique affair between Freddie and Mary has once again come to light, with pre-bids for Freddie’s personal goods already exceeding auction estimates, and the Queen star’s private life on display at Sotheby’s in central London.
As they sat down at the Garden Lodge house, which she has not decided to sell or keep, Mary talked about her connection with Freddie, the rationale behind the auction, and their decades-long romance.
In 1969, at the age of 24, Freddie Mercury had moved to England five years earlier and had not yet joined Queen when he first met Mary.
Mary Austin, who was hired at the age of 19, by the esteemed fashion shop Biba in Kensington, came from a working-class family in Fulham, west London. Her mother worked as a maid and her father as a wallpaper cutter.
After completing his studies at Ealing Art College, Freddie Mercury went to a trendy store where he met Mary. The two of them started hanging out together until Freddie got up the nerve to ask her out.
