Freddie Mercury: How Mary Austin said goodbye to Queen legend two years after his death
Freddie left Mary the bulk of his huge fortune and his spectacular West Kensington mansion, One Garden Lodge. He also bequeathed to her half of all his future earnings from Queen. These will have exceeded even the star’s own dreams after the recent renaissance of the band’s popularity with the release of the film Bohemian Rhapsody and the ever-growing success of tours and the new album from Queen and Adam Lambert. But Freddie also left Mary something even more precious than all of that…
Freddie was diagnosed with AIDS in 1987 and by 1990 it was clear his health was starting to fail.
When the star accepted his fate there was one person he turned to look after his legacy and also to guard his final remains.
Mary described the moment he asked her to carry out the incredibly important task of not only taking his ashes after his funeral: “He suddenly announced one day after Sunday lunch, ‘I know exactly where I want you to put me.”
But there was even more to it than that.
