THE GREAT DIVIDE
GIRLS are more nervous about maths lessons than boys are despite being better at sums, says The Institute for Fiscal Studies.
FREDDIE Mercury fans are flocking to a cemetery in a quest to find the singer’s final resting place.
The Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, out next week, has reignited interest in the singer who died 27 years ago. Devotees are signing up for walking tours of Kensal Green Cemetery in north-west London.
The Queen frontman, who died of an Aids-related illness, was cremated there in 1991. What happened to his ashes was never disclosed. In 2013, a plaque with a tribute to the star written in French was found in the cemetery, which is London’s most expensive burial site. It disappeared shortly after.
One fan who signed up for a tour said: “Freddie’s one of the most iconic rock stars ever, so it’s only natural there is an interest in where he was laid to rest.”
Starring Rami Malek as Freddie, the Bohemian Rhapsody film has taken 10 years to make after being hit by cast walkouts and production dramas. The plaque discovered at Kensal Green cemetery was dedicated to Farrokh Bulsara – Freddie’s birth name. He became Freddie Mercury after forming Queen in 1971.
The tribute, which appeared on top of a plinth, read: “In Loving Memory of Farrokh Bulsara. Pour Etre Toujours Pres De Toi Avec Tout Mon Amour”.
It translated as “Always To Be Close To You With All My Love”. It was signed off with the letter M.
It is thought the M could stand for his former girlfriend Mary Austin, 72, who inherited his £7million home Garden Lodge, an eight-bedroom property in Kensington.
A statement on the Kensal Green Cemetery website says plaques “can be provided for those whose cremated remains have been strewn in the Scattering Garden”.
There have been rumours that his remains may have been scattered in Zanzibar, the island off Tanzania, where he was born, or on the shores of Lake Geneva, in Montreux, Switzerland, where he had a home.