Freddie Mercury's personal items - including rare song lyrics - to be auctioned
More than 1,500 personal items belonging to Queen frontman Freddie Mercury are to be auctioned off this summer.
The Bohemian Rhapsody singer built up a collection of flamboyant stage costumes, furniture and artwork throughout his remarkable life.
“I like to be surrounded by splendid things,” he once said. “I want to lead the Victorian life surrounded by exquisite clutter.”
He kept everything at his home in Kensington, west London, which he left to friend Mary Austin when he died from complications related to AIDS at the age of 45.
Freddie’s death in 1991 came just one day after he publicly revealed he had been diagnosed with the illness.
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Now Mary - who once dated Freddie before he came out as gay - is auctioning off most of his possessions, save for a few personal mementos.
Thousands of Freddie Mercury's stage outfits and possessions will be auctioned (Ilpo Musto/REX/Shutterstock)
They include the crown and cloak he wore at Live Aid (SOTHEBY'S HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)Mary, 72, told the BBC that although she had pretty much kept the house as Freddie left it 30 years ago it was time to “put my affairs in order”.
She explained: “The time has come for me to take the difficult decision to close this very special chapter of my life.
“I decided 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.”
A highlight from the sale will be Freddie’s handwritten lyrics to Queen’s hit song We Are The Champions.
Written across nine pages and featuring harmonies and chords, it is expected to fetch between £200,000 and £300,000.
Previously unseen working lyrics to Killer Queen written in a single sheet of paper in black Biro in 1974 are expected to fetch up to £70,000.
Mary Austin with her former boyfriend and 'eternal love' Freddie Mercury (Getty Images)Freddie’s amazing stage costumes, which he kept in a mirror-lined dressing room, will also be sold.
The collection includes sequinned catsuits, glitter shoes and the crown he wore at the world famous Live Aid concert and on Queen’s last ever tour in 1986.
The fake fur, red velvet and rhinestone covered crown is a replica of St Edward’s Crown, which King Charles will wear at his Coronation next month.
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It is expected to fetch up to £80,000 – and could go for more if a buyer also purchases the matching cloak.
Fans can see some of Freddie's most prized possessions at Sotheby's before they go on sale (SOTHEBY'S HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)
The guitar he wrote and recorded Crazy Little Thing Called Love could fetch £50,000 (SOTHEBY'S HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)The Martin D-35 acoustic guitar Freddie is thought to have wrote and recorded Crazy Little Thing Called Love in 1975 is part of the auction and could fetch up to £50,000.
There are personal items in the sale too such as his favourite waistcoat, worn in his final video, These Are the Days of Our Lives in 1991.
The silk panels are each hand-painted and feature Freddie’s cats Delilah, Goliath, Oscar, Lily, Romeo and Miko.
Also going under the hammer is a telephone he kept beside his bed, a silver moustache comb and cocktail napkins embroidered with the letter F.
All items will go on display at Sotheby’s auction house in London this summer before they are sold in September.
The auction is expected to fetch in excess of £6 million and some of the proceeds will go to charity.
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