Freddie Mercury said to Mary Austin in his will: “If things had been different you would have been my wife, and this would have been yours anyway.”
Mary met Mercury in 1970 when she was a 19-year-old art student and they moved in together before he was famous. Although their relationship ended when Freddie came to terms with his sexuality, their friendship never did. “Our love affair ended in tears, but a deep bond grew out of it, and that’s something nobody can take away from us,” said Freddie. “It’s unreachable. All my lovers ask why they can’t replace her, but it’s simply impossible.”
And after his death in 1991 he left her 50% of his future earnings. A further 25% went to his parents and 25% to his sister.
Miss Austin’s share increased to 75% after the death of Mercury’s parents. He had also left her his 28-room $37 million West London mansion, as well as the bulk of his $17 million fortune – including his art collection and Louis XV furniture.
Finally, and most remarkably, Mary was entrusted with Mercury’s ashes after he was cremated and she is said to have secretly spread them in a location that she will never reveal…so Freddy’s final resting place will be a secret forever.
There’s something poetic about that.
Love isn’t inherently romantic, gender-specific, or sexual. True Love is agnostic and independent of any of these things.
What Mary and Freddie had was such a love. They were friends first, then lovers, and eventually bonding as soul mates operating as friends. Friendship is love and their friendship was cemented in that shared love, heartache, trust, experiences, and an untouchably deep affection for one another transcending the material plane.
Beautiful, right? It’s all any of us could ever hope to have.
