Freddie Mercury: Queen singer's private collection to be auctioned

An intimate postulation of 1,500 items belonging to Freddie Mercury, including handwritten lyrics and riotous signifier costumes, is to beryllium sold astatine auction.

The pb vocalist of Queen built up the postulation implicit 30 years and kept everything astatine his location successful West London.

When helium died successful 1991, helium near some the location and its contents to 1 of his oldest friends Mary Austin.

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

"It's a precise intelligent, blase postulation and I don't deliberation 1 would truly property that... to Freddie."

Austin is sitting successful the immense galleried drafting room, with a representation by the French creator Tissot connected the wall, which was the past enactment of creation Mercury bought, a period earlier helium died.

It was hung truthful Mercury could spot it from the sofa. It is estimated to fetch betwixt £400,000-600,000.

Austin said: "The postulation takes you deeper wrong the idiosyncratic and the antheral I knew."

A item of the merchantability volition beryllium Freddie Mercury's handwritten moving lyrics to 1 of Queen's top anthems, We Are The Champions, including harmonies and chords, written crossed 9 pages. They are expected to merchantability for £200,000-300,000.

The unseen moving lyrics to Killer Queen, written connected a azygous expanse of insubstantial successful achromatic Biro successful 1974, are expected to fetch £50,000-70,000.

Austin said the lyrics were peculiarly hard to portion with, due to the fact that they amusement "for me, the astir beauteous side" of the antheral she was devoted to.

"You're looking astatine the process of the artist, of enactment successful progress," she added. "The crossings out, the rethinking, the reformatting."

Nineteen-year-old Austin had been retired connected a day with Queen's guitarist Brian May erstwhile she archetypal met Mercury successful 1970.

They moved successful unneurotic and remained adjacent close aft helium told her helium was gay. She cared for him arsenic helium became weaker aft contracting an Aids-related illness.

Mercury erstwhile said of Austin: "I don't person that galore radical to crook to. And the lone one, if we're talking astir it, is Mary."

Naturally shy and self-effacing, Austin has seldom spoken successful nationalist since Mercury died.

But helium is inactive a immense portion of her life. "I miss the fun, the humour, his warmth, his energy," she reflects.

The house, Garden Lodge, successful Kensington, has remained astir wholly arsenic Mercury near it for 3 decades, implicit with the antique furniture, artworks and solid helium collected and the sumptuous fabrics helium loved.

There are prints by Matisse and Chagall hung connected the iridescent buttercup-yellow gloss-painted walls of the eating country and a representation by Picasso which was displayed supra the meal array successful the kitchen.

"I similar to beryllium surrounded by splendid things," helium erstwhile said. "I privation to pb the Victorian life, surrounded by exquisite clutter."

But present Austin has decided to merchantability the collection, "because I request to enactment my affairs successful order," she explains.

Austin, 72, adds: "The clip has travel for maine to instrumentality the hard determination to adjacent this precise peculiar section successful my life."

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

"I decided that it wouldn't beryllium due for maine to support things back. If I was going to sell, I had to beryllium brave and merchantability the lot."

So Mercury's signifier costumes volition beryllium sold, including sequinned catsuits, glittered shoes and the fake fur, reddish velvet and rhinestones crown and matching cloak helium wore during his past circuit with Queen successful the 1980s.

He kept them successful a mirrored-lined dressing room.

There are idiosyncratic items successful the merchantability too. The telephone helium kept beside his bed, a specially commissioned marble barroom and matching barroom stools, monogrammed cocktail napkins embroidered with a greenish F and a tiny metallic moustache comb.

There is besides his favourite waistcoat, worn successful his last video These are the Days of Our Lives, successful 1991.

The silk panels of red, greenish and purple are each hand-painted with 1 of Mercury's cats, Delilah, Goliath, Oscar, Lily, Romeo and Miko.

All 1,500 items volition spell connected show astatine Sotheby's successful London successful the summertime successful a series of specially designed galleries, devoted to a antithetic facet of Mercury's life, earlier they are sold successful September.

The auction is expected to fetch successful excess of £6m and immoderate of the proceeds volition beryllium donated to charity.