Freddie Mercury’s family are still locked in a war with the Queen star’s ex, as they try to get back possessions which he left to the woman he dated who also cared for him before his death
Freddie Mercury’s family made a series of anonymous bids at auction to try and buy back millions of pounds worth of the Queen star’s items, as a bitter feud continues.
Freddie made the decision to leave the lion’s share of his belongings to his former girlfriend, Mary Austin, who recently put them up for auction. The Bohemian Rhapsody singer’s family were “angry and upset” at the decision to sell half of his estate and decided to splash the cash to try and buy several key items back at auction.
Mary and Freddie were engaged until Freddie came out, and he had declared her his “one true love”, and also wrote and dedicated the 1975 song Love Of My Life to her. They dated from 1969 until the late 70s.
Mary’s decision to put Freddie’s items up for auction are said to have angered his family so much that they took desperate measures. A source said Freddie’s sister Kashmira Bulsara decided to purchase some of the items.
A source told The Sun: “Kashmira was angry and upset to see so many of her beloved brother’s possessions become available for anyone to buy, so she went for a private viewing, anonymously, with Jamal and her PA before the auction to see which bits she wanted to try to get.” She was willing to pay big money to secure the return of some much-loved items.
The source added: “Then when it came to auction time, Kashmira’s PA went in-person to Sotheby’s and was on the phone to Kashmira throughout. Kashmira watched online and told her PA how much to bid for each item.”
They continued: “They had set aside a huge budget so were actually very happy with the final figure laid out, despite paying well over the estimated price for each one. 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.”
Kashmira paid a huge sum of money for some of the items, including a whopping £406,400 for a Wurlitzer Model 850 jukebox, and £139,700 for a famous waistcoat featuring portraits of Freddie’s beloved six cats. He wore the waistcoat in the music video for These Are The Days Of Our Lives, months before his tragic death.
The most expensive purchase was £457,200 on a military-style jacket which was made for Freddie’s 39th birthday, in addition to eight pages of draft lyrics of the smash hit Killer Queen for £279,400. His sister also bought a vase which Freddie had turned into a lamp for £22,860, and a Nike sweatshirt went for £40,640.
This isn’t the first time Mary has sold items left to her by Freddie, after raising an enormous £40million back in 2023 after saying: “I need to put my affairs in order.” Before the auction, called Freddie Mercury: A World Of His Own, the lots were predicted to rake in more than £11million.
There was a huge amount of interest, with more than 140,000 people visiting an exhibition set up to display the items beforehand. More than 41,800 bids were placed over six sessions. Buyers came from more than 50 different countries.
A portion of the proceeds will be donated to an Aids charity set up by Queen bandmates and their manager, the Mercury Phoenix Trust, and to the Elton John Aids Foundation.
Mary said of the auction: “The time has come for me to take the difficult decision to close this very special chapter in my life. I decided that 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.”
As well as the items sold, Freddie also left Mary his Garden Lodge Mansion in Kensington. She put the house on the market last year for £30million, however it has not yet sold.
The auction house said: “Sotheby’s does not, as a matter of policy, comment on its clients or their purchases without express permission from those involved.”
Want all the biggest Showbiz and TV news straight to your inbox? Sign up for our free Daily Star Showbiz newsletter
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
