Recently, the Russian premiere of the musical biopic "Musical Rhapsody" about the cult band Queen and its famous frontman Freddie Mercury, who once said that "he had more lovers than Elizabeth Taylor", who had seven husbands alone, took place. In pursuit of thrills, the musician has tried almost everything in his life, and some pages from his biography make even those who are not distinguished by hypocrisy and chastity blush. And yet he had a special connection, a lifelong attachment to Mary Austin.


The name of Freddie Mercury appeared in the journalistic chronicle next to the names of the most famous women of that time. True, with all of them he was connected only by friendship, and sometimes very strange. For example, he somehow brought Princess Diana to a gay club by dressing up as a guy. And model Samantha Fox, they said, did not miss a single one of his parties. The spectacular blonde German actress Barbara Valentin could not resist his charm, with whom they periodically found themselves in the same bed, or rather, the lady without complexes more than once turned out to be the third when Freddie had fun with one of his many lovers. A string of male lovers did not stop him from seducing 17-year-old Carrie Fisher. But all this did not prevent him from maintaining a relationship with his first girlfriend Mary Austin throughout his life.



When they met, Mary was 19. The daughter of a printer's worker was a saleswoman in one of the popular London shops. After they met in 1970, young people lived instead of 6 years. At first they rented a small room, and then moved to a separate apartment, and, according to Mary, if not for Mercury's orientation, they would have tied the knot.




Mary Austin - the woman who became the inspiration for Queen's ballad "Love of my life", 1975.


And even when Austin decided to leave due to the fact that she was simply tired of sharing Freddie with men, they maintained a platonic relationship. The musician bought his girlfriend a luxurious apartment in London, next to his house, so that they could see each other every day. And when Mary gave birth to a son from designer Piers Cameron, Freddie became his godfather.



This friendship continued until the death of Mercury, who said more than once that Mary Austin is his closest friend, life without which is simply impossible. Mary spent hours with Jimi at Freddie's bedside as he died in terrible pain. And it was she who happened to inform her friend's parents about his death. Mercury bequeathed most of his multi-million dollar fortune to his parents, sister and Mary, whom he called the main woman in his life. She still lives today in a luxurious mansion in Kensington, which she inherited.







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The whole world knows Freddie Mercury as a bright, self-confident artist. But only one woman was next to him when the name of Mercury did not say anything to anyone. She remained nearby when the disease broke the brilliant musician. Mary Austin - common-law wife of Mercury and his the only friend.

website loves the work of Queen and Freddie Mercury. We also love romantic stories. Therefore, today our story will be devoted to the story of love and tender friendship of a simple girl and a world famous musician.

Start

Mary Austin and Freddie Mercury brought love to beautiful clothes. Mary worked at Biba, a London clothing store, and Freddie traded vintage clothes with his friend Roger Taylor (Queen's drummer) at a market in Kensington. The name of Freddie Mercury did not mean anything to anyone then: there was a whole year left before the appearance of the Queen group.

Mary Austin was born into a deaf and dumb family and communicated with her parents using sign language. But otherwise, this family was no different from many others: the father worked as a plasterer, and the mother served as a maid. A short, fragile girl immediately attracted the attention of a future rock idol. True, Mary herself was in a slight shock: Freddie always dressed brightly and shockingly. A 24-year-old shaggy rebel in a flashy outfit appeared before her, which, of course, confused the simple girl a lot.

Mary recalls that at that time they were as poor as church mice, and their romance was like the relationship of thousands of the same couples. Young people listened to music, walked, but could not afford anything extra. It was not so easy for aspiring musicians in London in the 1970s to break through: there were thousands like them.

Path to glory

Queen in 1974.

After a couple of months of regular meetings, young people began to live together in a tiny apartment. The legendary quartet Queen will soon appear, which will conquer the whole world. But so far no one knows about this, and the couple lives very modestly: Freddie writes songs, and Mary, like a real fighting girlfriend, supports him.

In 1973, Queen released their first album. Life is slowly getting better, and the couple can already afford an apartment in a prestigious area of ​​London. Freddie Mercury writes the ballad " love of my life and dedicates it to Mary. And he proposes to her. True, the proposal was made with Mercury's inherent sense of humor:

“Then, when I was 23, he gave me a big box for Christmas. Inside was another box, then another, and so on. It was like one of his jokes. I finally found a beautiful jade ring in the last little box.

I looked at him and was speechless. I remember thinking, "I don't understand what's going on." It wasn't at all what I expected. So I asked him: “Which hand should I put this on?” And he said: “The ring finger on the left hand.” And then he said, “Because you will marry me?” I was shocked and just whispered, “Yes. I `ll exit"."

Freddie introduced the bride to his mother. Jer Bulsara was delighted with the chosen one of her son and dreamed that the guys would get married and have children. But the wedding never took place. The engagement lasted three years and ended in separation.

Following the first album of the group, two more were released with a difference of a year. Queen was gaining wild popularity, Freddie had a lot of fans. Mary felt like an outsider in Freddie Mercury's new world.

“Some time later,” she says, “I noticed a wonderful vintage wedding dress in a small shop. And since Freddie didn't say anything else about marriage, I asked: "Is it time to buy a dress?" But he said: "No." He abandoned the idea of ​​marriage as if nothing had happened.

I was disappointed. Things became very complicated, and the atmosphere between us changed a lot.”

Mary Austin in an interview with the Daily Mail

Life apart

Freddie came home late and the relationship deteriorated. After some time, he frankly told Mary about his non-traditional orientation. Mary recalled that they always tried to be honest with each other and avoid scandals. Their romance ended, but the friendship and platonic love between the great rock singer and the simple girl lasted until the end.

After parting, Mercury convinced Mary not to leave him, and the girl settled a couple of steps from the singer's home. She was always there: accompanied Freddie at concerts and tours, worked as an assistant.

“I met Mary in 1970 and we have had a great relationship ever since. I was close to her like no other. We lived together for seven years, and I still love her. Love is the hardest thing to achieve, and it can disappoint like nothing else. I have a close bond with Mary that has grown stronger over the years. She went through almost everything and was always with me.”

Freddie Mercury / Youtube

Of course, Mary Austin had her own personal life, however, like Freddie Mercury. Mary gave birth to two children, but never married their father. Freddie Mercury even became the godfather of Mary's eldest son. At this time, Freddie was painfully looking for his love, he was besieged by fans, but he went to Mary for warmth and support.

“All my lovers have asked me why they can't replace Mary, but it's just not possible. The only friend I have is Mary. And I don't need anyone else. For me, she was a common-law wife. For me it was a marriage... we believe in each other. For me this is enough. I couldn't love a man the way I loved Mary."

Freddie Mercury / Mirror

Illness and the end of the story

At first, only two people knew that Freddie Mercury had HIV: Mary Austin and Jim Hutton. And when the disease almost won, these two did not leave Freddie a single step. Mary - because she was an old devoted friend, and Jim was the last lover of the great singer.

Hutton himself lived with HIV for almost 20 years and died in 2010 from lung cancer.

In 1991, Mercury lost his sight and hardly got out of bed. He stopped taking the pills and gave up the fight for life. Mary and Jim were there: they reminisced about old times, watched recordings of Queen concerts, laughed and cried together.

“Our relationship is pure friendship, but friendship of the highest level. It's an instinctive thing. I still love her. We'll probably grow old together."

For 10 years now, the favorite of the public, the lead singer of "Queen" Freddie Mercury, has passed away. His earthly life ended on November 24, 1991, but for many fans of the group's work and close people of this extraordinary personality, "the show continues to this day." It is this, judging by the song of the same name that has become a cult, that Freddie wanted the most. Mercury passionately loved life and dreamed of getting as much as possible from his short existence. Therefore, everyone involved in the life orbit of the star cannot part with it until now. Who are they - women who once and for all gave their hearts to this handsome man, who gave away his tenderness equally to ladies and men? About those who continue to love Freddie, our story.

Mary - homemaker

Mary Austin lives in London. The huge mansion in Kensington is surrounded by a Japanese garden with flowering trees and surrounded by a high wall covered with protective paint - from graffiti lovers. This place is included in the traditional excursion route of the Queen fan club - Freddie Mercury lived and died here. Not far from here was his first acquaintance with Mary.

In 1970, the girl turned 19 years old. The not-too-attractive short blonde worked at the trendy youth store Biba on Kensington Church Street. The most advanced youth hung out in this "shopping point": after a little digging, one could find an unusual T-shirt, an old-fashioned but stylish sweater, dresses of the most exotic colors and styles. Then Mary recalled that Freddie had to take care of her for 6 whole months: in simplicity, it seemed to the sincere girl that he liked another saleswoman more. When, on the day of his 24th birthday, Mercury invited Mary on a first date, she, having invented some reason, did not come - she just wanted to seem impregnable. But the very next evening, Freddie persuaded her to go with him to a nightclub.

“He didn’t have any money then,” recalls Mary, “so we did everything that ordinary young couples do. There weren’t any chic restaurants - it all came to him later.” And at first they rented a room in Kensington for 10 pounds a week and shared a bathroom and kitchen with neighbors.

It cannot be said that the girl immediately lost her head. She simply liked Freddie - black-haired, handsome, self-confident - the last quality of Mary herself was always lacking. Austin once admitted that it took her 3 years to truly fall in love. But then no one else could take Freddie's place in her soul.

They lived together for 7 years. The room was replaced by a separate apartment in the same area, and then quite decent housing. It was here that Mary first noticed that their relationship had changed. Prior to this, Mercury did not give her cause for concern: even the fame that fell on Freddie did not detract from his need to constantly be with Mary. He cooled off suddenly: he began to come home late, but at the same time he tried to avoid the slightest confrontation. "For a long time I could not understand the true reason for the change," recalls Mary. "In the end, the recognition that he was bisexual was a real relief for Freddie." But he could not let his girlfriend go at all: he bought her an apartment in the same area, in a house that was visible from his windows. And Mary realized that she could never leave her beloved completely.

Oddly enough, they remained best friends. Perhaps neither he nor she had ever had a closer person. Each then had their own personal life, but on some invisible level they remained a family. Freddie's boyfriends even managed to be jealous of Austin. And not in vain. “Mary was my only friend, and I don’t need another,” Mercury once said. “I still consider her my common-law wife - it was a real marriage. We believed in each other, but that’s enough for me. I can’t love a man the way I loved Mary ... We will grow old together. I can not imagine my life without her. Sometimes a true friend is more valuable than a lover. "

Freddie never had to live without her. Mary looked after him in his last days, helped him endure excruciating pain, saw him say goodbye to life. At some point, Mercury stopped taking medication and said: "That's it, I'm ready ... I'm leaving." As soon as she left the house for 10 minutes that day, Freddie was gone.

"It would be better if I died," says Mary. "Then he would miss me." But she had to live and take care of Freddie's huge mansion. Mary lives here with her two sons and her husband, to whom she is grateful for the fact that he decided to take her with all the baggage brought from her life with Mercury. And Freddie's will to leave his girlfriend a house and a multi-million dollar fortune is perhaps a kind of realization of an unfulfilled dream of a family.

Barbara - Playmate

Mary Austin looked at least strange next to Freddie - this woman did not look like those that surround homosexuals: neither a "beard" - a conspiratorial girl, nor a "fag hag" - a platonic gay girlfriend. Most likely, she really was his wife, even when the sexual relationship between them ceased. But her complete opposite was another woman who occupied a firm place in Mercury's life - the German actress Barbara Valentin. Freddie and met her in the Munich gay bar "New York", where Barbara loved to visit.

In her fifties, Valentine remained a very attractive person, possessed of magnificent forms and an indefatigable passion for entertainment. At one of the parties, a German woman accidentally burned her friend Freddie with a cigarette. After a short altercation, they met, and Mercury immediately dragged Barbara into the women's room, sat her on the toilet, and squatted next to her. They talked, like old friends, about everything: about love, failures, plans. And when they left the toilet, they found that the bar was empty, the door was locked.

For three years, Valentin participated in all Freddie's pranks - they wandered around the bars together, arranged sprees, men were jealous of each other, fought, slept in the same bed, traveled.

Once Mercury beat a guy who washed Barbara's hair in the sink in one of the bars. Another time, she got it herself: Freddie slapped his girlfriend in the face for flirting with the guy he liked. “For me, this slap in the face was like a bouquet of flowers,” Valentine later admitted. “Then our relationship was very difficult to understand ... He was gay, I loved men. But we were in love ...” Freddie considered this woman his best friend: "Barbara and I are more connected than I've been connected to anyone in the past 6 years. You can speak frankly with her and still be yourself, which is very rare."

Yes, Freddie really showed Valentine those sides of his "I", from acquaintance with which, perhaps, he tried to save Mary Austin. Barbara said that after bouts of stormy fun, he sometimes began to have tantrums - he beat his head against the radiator, rushed around the house, broke furniture. Once in a dream, he grabbed his girlfriend by the throat and almost strangled her. But an hour after such "frills" Mercury completely came to his senses, wiped the blood from his broken face and peacefully watered the flowers in his favorite garden. At the same time, Freddie could not leave Barbara's bed for days when she was sick, and the death of pets each time became a real grief for him. “He was very caring,” says Valentin. “He became very attentive when I talked about my troubles. His humor, like nothing else, helped me calm down.”

Suddenly everything changed. In 1985, Freddie unexpectedly left Munich and returned to London, where he began to lead an unusually quiet lifestyle. Only his closest friends, including Mary, knew that he had AIDS. Barbara saw Mercury only 2 years later and immediately understood everything: a huge spot appeared on his face - one of the signs of a fatal illness. The last time they saw each other was in the summer of 1991 at his house, when Freddie no longer got out of bed. Thin, in terrible pain, he said that Barbara made him happy again.

The universe without me is not the same ... (c)

The beloved woman of the Queen star received his millions, but was severely attacked by jealous rivals, and Mercury's bandmates simply abandoned her.

A few days before his death, when his once flexible body became completely helpless due to AIDS, Freddie Mercury asked the woman he called "the love of his life" for one last favor. She, and only she, must take his ashes after cremation and bury them in a secret place that must forever remain unknown.
For more than two decades, Mary Austin has been fulfilling Mercury's wish by keeping his ashes secret. Even his elderly parents were not informed about him.
Since the death of the 45-year-old Queen frontman in November 1991, there has been a lot of speculation. Were the ashes taken to his native Zanzibar? Or perhaps buried under a cherry tree in the garden of his London mansion?
When a plaque with his real name, Farukh Bulsara, was discovered last month at Kensall Green Cemetery in West London, hope was raised by an army of fans that they had finally found the idol's final resting place.
But Mary, the woman who spent most of her life with the enigmatic showman and inherited his $20 million Edwardian mansion, as well as most of his £9 million personal fortune, replies categorically:
- Freddie is not buried in this cemetery.
Mercury, famous for his immoderate lifestyle and unstoppable power on stage, died of AIDS when this disease was feared and not understood. Mary says that shortly before his death, he was very afraid that his grave would be desecrated:
- He didn't want anyone to try to dig him up like other celebrities did. The fans are completely obsessed. He wanted the place where he was buried to remain a secret, and it will remain.
She kept the urn in Freddie's bedroom for two years, and then staged a complex covert operation, leaving the house alone to fulfill his last request.
To avoid prying eyes, she didn't even take her driver with her.
- I didn't want anyone to suspect what I was going to do. I said that I was going to the beautician. You had to look convincing. It was very difficult to pick up the moment.
Early one morning, I sneaked out of the house with an urn. It was necessary to choose a perfectly normal day so that the servants would not suspect anything - because the servants gossip. They can't help but gossip. But no one will ever know where Freddie is buried because he wanted to.
A few days earlier, Mary had invited Mercury's parents home to read prayers for the dead. But even they were not told where his ashes were now.
It was an emotional and very intense mission for Mary, in and out of Mercury for 20 years. After his death, she was left alone. We sat in the music hall of the huge mansion, still brightly and lavishly decorated in the way Mercury preferred, and behind the wall the fans were relentless on duty. Many of them come there every day to stick notes about eternal love on the wall.
Mary looks out the window, smiling sadly. Then, sitting comfortably on a plush sofa, she looks around the room - a stunning collection of antiques, paintings and furniture from the time of Louis XV.
- Why should I change something? she asks. - It's his taste and style. He is beautiful. Freddie is invisibly present here.
The piano at which Mercury composed many of his greatest hits, including Bohemian Rhapsody, the centerpiece of the room. On it are several photographs in silver frames - Mary and Mercury from the heyday of their romance, laughing merrily. They spent six years together before he confessed to her that he was gay and began to change lovers like gloves. But his love for Mary never faded.
The fact that he left her a large part of the state caused many deep and burning resentment - including Mercury's former Queen comrades. Mary says that he warned that his inheritance could become a heavy burden.
“And he was right,” she adds, and frowns.
After Freddie's death, she felt she couldn't handle anything. She survived several serious illnesses and could hardly cope with the emotions associated with the inheritance.
- I remember I thought: "Oh, Freddie, you left me too much, I will not find so much strength to cope with everything." I felt like I didn't deserve all of this. He warned me that the house would be more difficult than I thought. I am grateful to him, because someone else's envy hit me like a Japanese high-speed train at full speed. Very painful.
The rest of the Queen musicians, in my opinion, have not come to terms with this. I don't understand. For me, it's just a building, nothing special. I try never to be jealous or envious.
Freddie was very generous to them in the last years of his life, and it seems to me that they never realized this generosity. They don't appreciate or understand what Freddie left them. He left the band a quarter of the proceeds from their last four albums - although he was under no obligation to do so. And I don't talk to them at all. After Freddie's death, they left.
Memories of Mercury haunt her everywhere, she admits.
- I hear a song and immediately remember the emotions associated with it. We lived together for over twenty years. Under the same roof. Together - in an emotional sense.
During this time, she experienced everything: the joy when Mercury proposed to her, parting, when he realized he was a homosexual, the torment of the last days of his life. One memory of those days still haunts her. Already completely ill, Mercury was watching videos of his performances.
- He turned to me and sadly said: "And I was so beautiful." I got up and hurried out of the room,” she recalls. - I was very upset. We were not allowed to show strong emotions around him, and it was difficult. And I knew that if I had remained seated, I would have burst into tears. When I returned, I sat next to him again, as if nothing had happened. But he really took me by surprise.
Mary was 19 years old when she met Mercury in the early seventies. She was born into a poor family in Battersea (South London) - her father was a carver in a printing house, and her mother was a servant in a small company - and her childhood was not an easy one. Both father and mother were deaf and communicated exclusively through signs and lip reading.
Mary worked as a saleswoman in the fashion store "Biba" in Kensington and met the 24-year-old Mercury in a clothing store that he ran with Queen drummer Roger Taylor in nearby Kensington Market.
At first, she was wary of Mercury, but at the same time she was interested in this "outlandish artistic musician."
“I have never met such people before,” she recalls. - He was very confident in himself, unlike me. Eventually we started dating. I liked it, in fact, that's how it all started.
The couple first settled in a large living room, then they moved into a modest apartment on Holland Road. They were happy with each other, but did not discuss a joint future.
- Then, when I was already 23, he gave me a big box for Christmas. Inside was a smaller box, then even smaller, and so on. He loved to have so much fun. In the last box, I found a beautiful jade ring.
I saw him and was speechless. I remember thinking, "I don't understand why this is?" I was expecting something completely different. So I asked him, "Which finger should I wear it on?" He replied: "On the ring finger of the left hand." And then he said: "Will you marry me?" I was shocked. I didn't expect this at all. I whispered, "Yes, I will."
But impulsive as always, Mercury quickly changed his mind.
“A little later,” Mary recalls, “I saw a beautiful antique wedding dress in a small shop. Freddie didn't say anything else about the wedding, so I decided to test the waters myself and asked: "Well, is it time for me to buy a dress?" But he answered "No". Marriage ceased to interest him, he did not return to this topic anymore.
I was disappointed, but in fact, I had a premonition that nothing would work out. Relations have become very complicated, the atmosphere around us has changed a lot. I knew something was going to happen, but I couldn't say for sure what it was.
I never questioned him. But it looks like he's already started to question himself. Perhaps he really wanted to get married. But then I thought about whether it would be fair to me.
When Mercury admitted that he was gay, the physical relationship between them ended, but Mary is very grateful to Freddie that he once decided to discuss his changed preferences with her.
“If he wasn’t so decent and didn’t tell me anything, I wouldn’t be here,” she says frankly. - If he began to live a bisexual life without telling me anything, then I would also get AIDS and die.
Mary began to notice that Mercury was returning home later and later, and suggested that he had another woman. She feared that their relationship was about to end. But one day he told her that he wanted to tell her something important - something that would forever change their relationship.
Bowing her head, Mary says quietly:
- I will never forget this moment. I was a little naive, so I did not immediately understand what was going on. He was very happy when he confessed his bisexuality to me. True, I remember that I then answered him: "No, Freddie, you are not bisexual. I think you are gay."
She recalls that Freddie then hugged her and said: no matter what happens, he wants her to remain a part of his life forever. For some time they still continued to live together, albeit rather unusually. When they had dinner parties, Mary sat on one side of Mercury, and his current boyfriend on the other.
In the end, Mary decided to move out of their common apartment, and the Mercury music company bought her a house for 300,000 pounds.
Mary becomes thoughtful.
- The saddest thing is that if he had been more careful, he would still live. Much has changed with modern advances in medicine.
Mary could only watch from afar as her former lover opened a new, unbridled chapter in his life.
- I think Freddie gradually came to the point that he began to consider himself invulnerable. He convinced himself that he was having a great time, and perhaps, in part, he was. But, I'm sure, in part - it was not.
And then it was already too late. The only person who could change anything was Freddie himself. But it seems to me that he has ceased to be honest with himself. Many of his so-called friends hung around him for free tickets, free booze, free drugs, free food, gossip, and, of course, expensive gifts.
Mercury hid exactly what he was sick with, almost until his death. When he said that he was going to bequeath his beautiful house to her, Mary suggested that he simply issue a power of attorney for her.
- He then said: "If everything turned out differently, you would be my wife, so the house would still remain yours."
Mary has two children: Richard, whom Freddie knew, and Jamie, born shortly after his death. Her relationship with their father did not last long. Then Mary met another man and even married him. But the marriage lasted only five years, and they divorced ten years ago.
The real love of her life was and remains Mercury. She never forgot about him.
- Freddie was funny. I only saw him seriously when he was working on songs. The house was silent, but it was full of latent energy.
But Freddie's character always remained the same, whatever the mood. He was always on the move. He was like a volume control on a radio. Very few people can enter the room and you immediately feel warm and welcome. And then they leave, and the warmth leaves with them.
The true nature of Mercury, she believes, is a strange combination of self-doubt and self-confidence.
- I think the turning point was Bohemian Rhapsody. After her, he realized that he should not doubt himself. He was told that radio stations would not play such a long song, but Freddie flatly refused to shorten it.
Fans still gather around the house where their idol once lived; Mary understands their desire to know where is his last resting place. But she is bound by the promise made to him.
“I never betrayed Freddie in my lifetime,” she says. - I will not betray even after death.

The personal life of Freddie Mercury has always been under the scrutiny of the press and the public. There have been and are many rumors in this delicate topic. Much has been said about Freddie's homosexuality, but the fact that he had relationships with women is forgotten. The most enduring and emotional connection was with Mary Austin, the woman who became the inspiration for Queen's ballad "Love of my life", 1975.

In 1969, Austin was 19 years old, she worked in a boutique called Biba, then met the 24-year-old Mercury. He was an aspiring singer, not one of the most famous rock stars on the planet.

By the mid-1970s, Freddie Mercury began an affair with a male performer from Elektra Records, and in December 1976, Mercury told Austin about his orientation, which ended their romantic relationship. Mercury flew out of the apartment they were renting. They remained close friends over the years, with Mercury often referring to her as his only true friend.

In 1985, Mercury wrote to Austin: "All my lovers ask me why they can't replace Mary [Austin], but it's just not possible. The only friend I have is Mary and I don't want anyone else."

Austin got married, had two children, but she supported Mercury after his diagnosis of AIDS became known. When the singer died in 1991, he left most of his estate and his London mansion, Garden Lodge, to her, not to his lover Jim Hutton. “If everything were different,” the will said, “you would be my wife, and it would still be yours”