FREDDIE MERCURY AND HIS WIFE
The new film on Queen, called Bohemian Rhapsody, will shine a new light on to the little known romance between Freddie Mercury and Mary Austin.
Never-seen-before pictures of Queen on tour in the 1970s and 1980s were released by Brian May this week including one of Freddie seated next to Mary on the band's private jet.
Mary still lives in the vast West London mansion where Freddie died from an Aidsrelated illness in1991.
When the trailer for the long-awaited movie came out, there were allegations it was ‘straightwashing' Freddie's life by so often showing him with a young blonde.
But the truth is that his love for Mary was very real although they did split over Freddie's indiscretions with young men, the pair remained
incredibly close. She was not there, as some believed, to hide his homosexuality from the public.
Not only did Freddie ask her to marry him, he also left her half of his £75million estate, including the cherished £25million Georgian mansion in Kensington.
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.' The 67-year-old now lives as a recluse behind the high spiked walls of the mansion, where fans still make regular pilgrimages.
A neighbour told The Sun he rarely sees Mary. He said: 'In the past four years I've seen her twice. She drives an old Mercedes and keeps herself to herself.'
Several years ago Mary upset some of Freddie's fans by having their graffiti scrubbed from the walls and putting up a transparent plastic sheet to prevent more.