Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Freddie Mercury: Queen star's friend Mary Austin to auction his personal treasures

Freddie Mercury: Queen star's friend Mary Austin to auction his personal treasures

One of Freddie Mercury's oldest friends is to auction an intimate collection of 1,500 items belonging to the late Queen star, including some of his handwritten lyrics and riotous stage costumes.

The singer built up the collection over 30 years and kept everything at his home in west London.

When he died in 1991, he left both the house and its contents to Mary Austin.

"The collection takes you deeper within the individual and the man I knew," Austin said.

Mary Austin with Freddie Mercury in 1986


Austin is sitting in the huge galleried drawing room, with a portrait by the French painter Tissot on the wall, which was the last work of art Mercury bought, a month before he died.

It was hung so Mercury could see it from the sofa. It is estimated to fetch between £400,000-600,000.

"You see the spectrum of his taste," said Austin, speaking exclusively to the BBC.

"It's a very intelligent, sophisticated collection."

The last work of art Mercury bought was this portrait by James Jacques Tissot (estimate £400,000-600,000)


A highlight of the sale will be Freddie Mercury's handwritten working lyrics to one of Queen's greatest anthems, We Are The Champions, including harmonies and chords, written across nine pages. They are expected to sell for £200,000-300,000.

The unseen working lyrics to Killer Queen, written on a single sheet of paper in black Biro in 1974, are expected to fetch £50,000-70,000.

Austin said the lyrics were particularly difficult to part with, because they show "for me, the most beautiful side" of the man she was devoted to.

"You're looking at the process of the artist, of work in progress," she added. "The crossings out, the rethinking, the reformatting."

Nineteen-year-old Austin had been out on a date with Queen's guitarist Brian May when she first met Mercury in 1970.

Queen in 1973, left to right: John Deacon, Freddie Mercury, Roger Taylor and Brian May


They moved in together and remained close even after he told her he was gay. She cared for him as he became weaker after contracting an Aids-related illness.

Mercury once said of Austin: "I don't have that many people to turn to. And the only one, if we're talking about it, is Mary."

Naturally shy and self-effacing, Austin has rarely spoken in public since Mercury died.

But he is still a huge part of her life. "I miss the fun, the humour, his warmth, his energy," she reflects.

Mercury lived in Garden Lodge in Kensington


The house, Garden Lodge, in Kensington, has remained almost entirely as Mercury left it for three decades, complete with the antique furniture, artworks and glass he collected and the sumptuous fabrics he loved.

There are prints by Matisse and Chagall hung on the iridescent buttercup-yellow gloss-painted walls of the dining room and a portrait by Picasso which was displayed above the breakfast table in the kitchen.

In Mercury's kitchen hung Pablo Picasso's portrait of his wife (estimate £50,000 - 70,000)


"I like to be surrounded by splendid things," he once said. "I want to lead the Victorian life, surrounded by exquisite clutter."

But now Austin has decided to sell the collection, "because I need to put my affairs in order," she explains.

Austin, 72, adds: "The time has come for me to take the difficult decision to close this very special chapter in my life."

And beyond a few "personal gifts" and photographs of the pair together, Mary Austin is selling everything.

"I decided that it wouldn't be appropriate for me to keep things back. If I was going to sell, I had to be brave and sell the lot."

Freddie Mercury's crown, a replica of St Edward's Crown worn by King Charles at the Coronation (estimate £60,000-80,000)


So Mercury's stage costumes will be sold, including sequinned catsuits, glittered shoes and the fake fur, red velvet and rhinestones crown and matching cloak he wore during his last tour with Queen in the 1980s.

He kept them in a mirrored-lined dressing room.

It is thought Freddie Mercury wrote and recorded Crazy Little Thing Called Love on this 1975 Martin D-35 Acoustic guitar (estimate £30,000-50,000)


There are personal items in the sale too. The telephone he kept beside his bed, a specially commissioned marble bar and matching bar stools, monogrammed cocktail napkins embroidered with a green F and a small silver moustache comb.

There is also his favourite waistcoat, worn in his final video These are the Days of Our Lives, in 1991.

The silk panels of red, green and purple are each hand-painted with one of Mercury's cats, Delilah, Goliath, Oscar, Lily, Romeo and Miko.

Freddie Mercury's favourite waistcoat (estimated to fetch £5,000-7,000)


All 1,500 items will go on display at Sotheby's in London in the summer in a sequence of specially designed galleries, devoted to a different aspect of Mercury's life, before they are sold in September.

The auction is expected to fetch in excess of £6m and some of the proceeds will be donated to charity.

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Trump Says Ukraine Can Fully Restore Borders with NATO Backing
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Germany Weighs Excluding France from Key European Fighter Jet Programme
Cyberattack Disrupts Check-in and Boarding Systems at Major European Airports
Björn Borg Breaks Silence: Memoir Reveals Addiction, Shame and Cancer Battle
When Extremism Hijacks Idealism: How the Baader-Meinhof Gang Emerged and Fell
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
Trump Orders $100,000 Fee on H-1B Visas and Launches ‘Gold Card’ Immigration Pathway
France’s Looming Budget Crisis and Political Fracture Raise Fears of Becoming Europe’s “Sick Man”
Three Russian MiG-31 Jets Breach Estonian Airspace in ‘Unprecedentedly Brazen’ NATO Incident
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
France Erupts in Mass ‘Block Everything’ Protests on New PM’s First Day
Poland Shoots Down Russian Drones in Airspace Violation During Ukraine Attack
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Macron Appoints Sébastien Lecornu as Prime Minister Amid Budget Crisis and Political Turmoil
Vatican hosts first Catholic LGBTQ pilgrimage
Apple Unveils iPhone 17 Series, iPhone Air, Apple Watch 11 and More at 'Awe Dropping' Event
France joins Eurozone’s ‘periphery’ as turmoil deepens, say investors
France Faces New Political Crisis, again, as Prime Minister Bayrou Pushed Out
Nayib Bukele Points Out Belgian Hypocrisy as Brussels Considers Sending Army into the Streets
×