Freddie Mercury insisted on the identical factor each single morning when he woke
The non-public contents of Freddie Mercury’s lavish West London house are going up for public sale subsequent month at Sotheby’s on Bond Street and the general public can view most of the 1,400 items throughout twelve galleries there without spending a dime till September 5.
The Queen star left Garden Lodge and its contents to his former girlfriend Mary Austin when he died in 1991.
Freddie was all the time intensely non-public about his house life. Few ever noticed inside these excessive brick partitions and footage have been hardly ever allowed.
Mary continued to guard his legacy and privateness, altering little of the interiors, whereas some items on supply have been packed away and never seen by anyone for the final 32 years.
One of the few individuals who shared Freddie’s closing years alongside Mary has spoken out right now about their life collectively.
Peter Freestone was Freddie’s shut buddy and PA, and lived at Garden Lodge for a few years till Mary took possession.
The Sotheby’s exhibition has organized the contents of the sale, together with furnishings and artworks, as they might have been on the mansion. It’s an unprecedented, deeply transferring glimpse into the Queen legend’s house life that few ever noticed, even whereas he was alive.
Peter spoke of his “nostalgia” at seeing the whole lot once more on Good Morning: “Every piece has got a story. I was around these pieces for 12 years.”
He additionally revealed how very completely different Freddie was away from the general public eye in his home life.
The public sale will embrace Freddie’s beloved Yamaha child grand piano (valued at £2-3million) and priceless artworks, but in addition options his strong silver Tiffany beard comb and private notes made about glittering feast menus and what the company have been sporting.
It provides glimpses of his day by day, home life, of the person behind the general public persona.
Peter additionally describes a homebody distant from all of the glamour and fame: “People would not believe if they were a fly on the wall watching Freddie at home. He was a human being.”
And that began along with his morning routine, which by no means diverse, nonetheless loopy the night time earlier than had been.
Peter mentioned: “Nine o’cock on the morning, it didn’t matter if he went to bed at two in the morning or six in the morning, at nine o’clock there had to be a cup of Earl Grey tea with milk and two sugars by the side of his bed.
“He could be down for breakfast inside half an hour. It was all the time the identical, a few slices of toast, some marmalade jam and extra tea.
“He would go into the garden, feed the Koi carp in his pond. He loved doing that. He’d put the granules in his hand, put it in the water and they would come and eat out of his hand.”
Peter beforehand instructed the Express: “Freddie left the rock star on stage. In interviews that persona was to create drama. He never actually took himself too seriously… He would leave the house and always strike a pose for the fans because he never forgot everything he had came from them…
“Most of all, he was happiest at house in a mismatched tracksuit watching Countdown. He liked to entertain and would possibly improve to an identical tracksuit after which fake he had laid the desk himself. He was all the time laughing.”
The public sale and present exhibition give a glimpse of that house life with the formal eating desk laid along with his best china and glassware, and his large snug sofas, in addition to an unlimited array of his stage and private clothes and trainers.
FREDDIE MERCURY: A WORLD OF HIS OWN EXHIBITION IS FREE TO THE PUBLIC AT SOTHEBY’S, BOND STREET, UNTIL SEPTEMBER 5