On November 24, 1991, Freddie Mercury (real name Farrokh Bulsara), one of the best musicians and singers of all time, left us.
Only the most loyal Queen fans know that Mary Austin was the only woman Freddie Mercury loved. Despite his sexual orientation, but also the long-term turbulent relationship with Jim Hutton, towards the end of his life, the British musician admitted that Mary was the love of his life.
It’s no surprise then that in November 1991 he left her half his £75m fortune, including a £20m house in West London, as well as a large assignment.
Freddie’s last wish was to be cremated and Mary to lay his remains in a secret location that will never be revealed.
He feared that his grave would be desecrated by the faithful if his final resting place were discovered, so she took the task very seriously.
She kept his urn in her home for two years, and then one day she sneaked out of the home with the lie that she was going to her beautician for treatment. Instead, she headed in an unknown direction and deposited his remains in a place still unknown to his family. Mary is a woman Freddie trusted without reservation.
They met when they were very young and penniless – she was 19 years old and Freddie was five years older and had just started his star career.
I have never met anyone like him. He was very confident, which I never was, Mary admitted.
She became his best friend and lover, and together they began to live in a modest one-room apartment. In 1973, around the time Queen’s debut album was released, he proposed to her. Although he considered her his wife, they never married.
Mary accompanied him on tours and was very supportive even when he admitted to her that he liked men.
He had many friends who were only with him for free tickets, free food, free drinks, free medicine and expensive gifts, she said in one of the rare interviews.
She believes he trusted her because she was different. She is one of the few people who truly loved him and did not demand material compensation in return.
That’s why she was among the few people to whom he admitted that he was HIV positive soon after his diagnosis in 1987, but also the person who held his hand on his deathbed four years later.
After Freddie’s death, Mary Austin was inconsolable. Only sons Richard and Jamie could bring a smile to her face. She married and divorced twice because no one could fill the void Freddie left in her heart.
The movie “Bohemian Rhapsody” is partly about the love of Freddie Mercury and Mary Austin. The role of the British music star went to the American actor Rami Malek who won the Oscar for the best actor, while Mary was played by Lucy Boynton.
