Freddie Mercury’s family looks set to be reunited with a vast haul of his treasured possessions nearly 35 years after the music legend’s death – but only because they secretly bought them at auction from his former lover.
The star’s sister, Kashmira Bulsara, has reportedly spent £3million ensuring the Queen frontman’s personal belongings are preserved for future generations of the Bulsara family, after they were put up for auction by the woman who has exerted tight control over much of his estate since his death.
Mary Austin, Freddie’s one-time fiancée turned doting friend inherited the biggest chunk of the singer’s fortune when he died from AIDS-related pneumonia in 1991 – and even took charge of his ashes following his funeral.
It was Mary too who asked the man the singer shared his life with, Jim Hutton, from 1985 until his death to vacate Freddie’s £30million Georgian mansion in Kensington just months after the star’s will was revealed.
So the decision by Freddie’s sister and his nephew, Jamal Zook, to bid for the pop star’s possessions while remaining anonymous, so as not to alert Mary of their intentions, suggests an icy froideur between the woman Freddie dubbed my ‘common-law wife’ and others close to him.
When the Zanzibar-born star was buried in a traditional Zoroastrian funeral at the West London Crematorium in 1991, in line with the religion of his parents, Mary revealed later that she had taken the singer’s ashes after the ceremony.
She would go on to explain that she’d invited Freddie’s parents, Bomi and Jer, to another pseudo ceremony to say a final goodbye to their son.
Of the auction, a source told The Sun this week: ‘Kashmira was angry and upset to see so many of her beloved brother’s possessions become available for anyone to buy.’
When Freddie Mercury died of AIDS-related pneumonia in 1991, his one-time fiancee Mary Austin inherited half of his £200million fortune, with the remaining 50 per cent split between his parents and sister
‘I couldn’t fall in love with a man the same way as I have with Mary’ Freddie’s devotion in life to Mary Austin, pictured in Kensington in 2019, saw her take control of much of his fortune after his death
The flamboyant Queen singer’s sister has reportedly parted with £3million in total to ensure the belongings enter the Bulsara family, after Mary Austin put them up for auction
Fury: Freddie’s sister Kashmira, 73, was reportedly left ‘angry and upset’ that many of Freddie’s possessions had been put up for public auction – and took matters into her own hands by allegedly secretly bidding for them
They added: ‘Of course, Kashmira appreciates how adored Freddie was across the world, but she was saddened to think of some of his sentimental belongings not being with his loved ones.’
The close relationship Mary, 74, shared with Freddie, who was born Farrokh Bulsara, during his lifetime saw her become the most significant beneficiaries for the Queen frontman’s £200million estate – inheriting 50 per cent – plus millions more in the decades since.
Last year, she received a rumoured £187.5million windfall following the sale of Queen’s back catalogue in a £1billion deal with Sony.
Meanwhile, Kashmira, six years his junior, and the siblings’ parents, Bomi and Jer, each inherited 25 per cent of the estate – but when Freddie’s parents died, their share of the estate was bequeathed to Mary Austin.
Mary, who reportedly isn’t in regular contact with Queen’s surviving members, Roger Taylor, John Deacon and Brian May, is also a trustee of a charity set up in Freddie’s honour, the Mercury Phoenix Trust.
The report that Kashmira allegedly sent an undercover bidder to the secure the treasured heirlooms that belong to her brother suggest that relations between Mary Austin and Freddie’s family are cool at best.
How did Mary win the heart of Freddie, who lived as a gay man, so comprehensively? The former lovers first met in 1970 when he was a young aspiring musician, who had moved to London six years prior from Zanzibar, where he and Kashmira were born.
Quickly falling in love, they moved in together and got engaged in 1973, but three years later Freddie came out to Mary, announcing that he was gay.
Last year, it was revealed that Mary Austin would also get a huge windfall following the £1billion sale of Queen’s back catalogue to Sony – giving Austin a £187million share (The band pictured in 1984, from left: John Deacon, Freddie Mercury, Brian May and Roger Taylor)
Garden Lodge in Kensington: Freddie snapped up the property for just £300,000 in 1978; following his death, Mary moved into the property, after asking his boyfriend Jim Hutton to leave the property three months after the singer died
Love: Freddie came out as bisexual to Mary after they were engaged in the early 1970s – their romance evolved into a deep friendship, with Freddie describing her as his ‘common-law wife’
Austin also took control of the singer’s ashes, upon his wishes, returning them to his mansion, Garden Lodge, where he could ‘rest in peace’ (pictured in 2002)
It is claimed that among the items Kashmira bought was a £139,700 waistcoat adorned with pictures of Freddie’s six cats, which he wore in the music video for These Are The Days Of Our Lives, just six months before his death (pictured)
Mary and Freddie were never legally bound by marriage but the star called Mary his ‘wife’ long after their relationship had ended.
He once said: ‘All my lovers asked me why they couldn’t replace Mary, but it’s simply impossible.
‘The only friend I’ve got is Mary, and I don’t want anybody else. To me, she was my common-law wife. To me, it was a marriage.
‘We believe in each other. That’s enough for me. I couldn’t fall in love with a man the same way as I have with Mary.’
In a rare interview, Mary, recalled the moment he revealed his true sexuality to her: ‘He said, “I think I am bisexual. I told him: “I think you’re gay.” And nothing else was said. We just hugged.’
After Freddie’s funeral in 1991, Mary revealed that she had, upon the singer’s wishes, taken the urn holding his ashes back to Garden Lodge.
She explained: ‘He suddenly announced one day after Sunday lunch, “I know exactly where I want you to put me. But nobody is to know because I don’t want anyone to dig me up.”
‘Those were his exact words, “I just want to rest in peace'”.
Going to great lengths to keep the final resting place for his ashes a secret, it’s believed Freddie’s parents were allowed by Mary to say a final goodbye, although it’s thought his sister wasn’t present at the pseudo ceremony.
The 2018 film Bohemian Rhapsody, starring Rami Malek as Freddie and Lucy Boynton as Mary Austin, shone a light on their relationship, portraying Mary as a faithful friend who stood by Freddie throughout the highs and lows of his life.
Neighbours in Kensington once described the now 74-year-old Mary as ‘reclusive’ and rarely seen, except for when she would venture out in a battered old Mercedes.
In February last year, Mary put the house she’d lived in since Freddie’s death up for sale for £30million.
And what of Hutton, who was the man Freddie loved until his dying day? In a 1994 memoir, Irish-born Hutton, who died of lung cancer in 2021, claimed Freddie had promised him memorabilia before his death – including the lyrics to his most famous song.
Hutton wrote: ‘Some of my things remain at Garden Lodge. I clean forgot about the trunk of goodies including the Bohemian Rhapsody lyrics which Freddie got out of storage for me a year before he died.’
And she’s said to have spent the most cash on a military jacket that was made for her brother’s 39th birthday, shelling out a staggering £457,200 (pictured)
The Sun also reports she paid £406,400 for a Wurlitzer Model 850 jukebox (pictured) and £279,400 for eight pages of draft lyrics to 1974 Queen hit track Killer Queen
The top item was Freddie’s beloved Yamaha Baby Grand piano that he bought in 1975 and used to compose hits such as Bohemian Rhapsody and Don’t Stop Me Now – selling for a record £1.7 million (pictured)
Founding members Brian May, 75, and Roger Taylor, 74, continue to tour live with Adam Lambert, 42, as their new front man (pictured) following Freddie’s death in 1991.
Almost 35 years after the death of her brother, Kashmira is now seemingly determined to bring her older brother’s possessions into the Bulsara family.
She reportedly went to a private viewing beforehand and then sent her PA to Sotheby’s on her behalf, while watching online and instructing on amounts to bid.
Which of Freddie’s items did she deem worth spending such vast amounts on?
It is claimed that among the items Kashmira bought was a £139,700 waistcoat adorned with pictures of Freddie’s six cats, which he wore in the music video for These Are The Days Of Our Lives, just six months before his death.
The Sun also reports she paid £406,400 for a Wurlitzer Model 850 jukebox and £279,400 for eight pages of draft lyrics to 1974 Queen hit track Killer Queen.
And she’s said to have spent the most cash on a military jacket that was made for her brother’s 39th birthday, shelling out a staggering £457,200.
The other reported items were a £22,860 lamp made from a Daum Persimmons vase, a £40,640 Nike sweatshirt and a cube-shaped ice bucket for £19,000.
Mary previously sold more than 1,400 of the Freddie’s belonging for a total of £12,172,290 at an auction run by Sotheby’s in September 2023.
Representatives for Kashmira declined to comment when approached by MailOnline, while Mary’s representatives have also been contacted.