Freddie: His Majesty from the very start

Freddie Mercury [above, from the cover of Queen II in 1974] was the one from Queen I got close to. I conceived that sleeve it, shot it, art directed it and did the design and layout and only got a poxy £300. I remember Roger Taylor telling me that Freddie would come over to his place to crash, when he didn’t even have a pot to p*** in and, even then, it was like he was doing you a favour. I liked Freddie. I don’t think he trusted anybody but he was a gentle soul. He was also unbelievably musical, which people tend to forget because of all the showmanship.’