Freddie once said “All my lovers asked me why they couldn’t replace Mary. The only friend I’ve got is Mary, To me, she was my common-law wife, it was a marriage.”
Mary was 19 and Freddie’s 24 when they met in 1969. Mary was working at the West London fashion boutique. The two bonded quickly and rent a flat together.
But as it happened the ringing success of Queen’s first song “Killer Queen” drove them apart.
The single came out in 1974 reached number two on the British chart and number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Freddie was hosting wild parties and exploring new partners along the way. The couple broke up in 1976. He told Mary that he thinks he has a bisexual drive.
Mary later said: “I’ll never forget that moment. I remember saying to him, ‘No Freddie, I don’t think you are bisexual. I think you are gay’
Despite the relationship was ended, Mary remains Close to Freddie managing his commercial affairs and travel schedule.
Freddie wrote the Bohemian Rhapsody in 1979 ushering a new era of rock music. The band topped all the charts and developed a legacy that still holds the name of a street in London. (Freddie Mercury Close located in Feltham)
The panic and pressure to outperform every earlier success shaped Freddie to drug obsession and frequent one night stands.
Mary supported him in the time he first announced he has HIV in the mid-80s. There’s rare footage of Freddie singing a Hungarian folk song ‘Tavaszi Szél Vizet Áraszt’ with Mary standing beside him at the Budapest concert during The Magic Tour. It was one of Queen’s last tour with Freddie Mercury as their frontman.
Freddie Mercury died at the age of 45 on Sept 1991 in presence of Mary, then partner Jim Hutton and PA Peter Freestone.
Freddie left a big chunk of his fortune to Mary including West Kensington mansion, a £25million Garden Lodge in south Kensington, and Future ownership of half of the royalties from the Queen’s music.
To Jim Hutton whom Freddie spent the last years of his life, shared £500,000. Jim used it to buy a home in Ireland where he lived until his death on January 1, 2010.
According to Express.co.uk interview, Peter Freestone said “I do think it is significant, in the end, he gave Mary the house and half of all his future earnings from Queen. That is what he felt for her…”
