When I returned I just sat down as if nothing had happened. But I knew if I sat there I would have been in tears. We were never allowed to get emotional around him and that was hard. ‘On one occasion he turned to me and said sadly, “To think I used to be so handsome.” I got up and had to leave the room,’ she recalls. As his life ebbed away, Mercury watched DVD footage of his past performances. There is one particularly powerful memory of that time that still haunts her. Together emotionally.’ĭuring that time she witnessed the thrill of Mercury proposing marriage, the heartache of losing him when he realised he was gay and the anguish of nursing him through his final days. ‘You hear a specific song and it makes you feel emotional. After Freddie died, they just wandered off.’Įverywhere, she confesses, there are memories of Mercury. He left the band a quarter share of the last four albums – which he didn’t need to do. I don’t think they appreciated or recognised what Freddie had left them. ‘Freddie was very generous to them in the last years of his life and I don’t think they embraced that generosity. Mary was left a magnificent £20million Edwardian mansion in West London ‘And he was right,’ she says, her features, still elfin at 62, forming a deep frown. She says he warned her the legacy she would inherit could become a burden. That he left the bulk of his fortune to her caused deep and bitter resentment – not least among Mercury’s former band members. After six years together, he came out as gay, taking a stream of lovers as his life descended into uninhibited promiscuity. On top, sit several silver-framed photographs of Mary and Mercury, in the first flush of romance, laughing lovingly together. The grand piano – at which Mercury composed many of his greatest hits including Bohemian Rhapsody – dominates the room. ‘Why would I want to change it?’ she says. Sinking into a plush sofa she then casts her eye around the room – taking in its stunning array of valuable antiques, art works and Louis XV furniture. Mary gazes through the window, smiling softly. For many of them it is a daily pilgrimage and they pause to pin up missives of undying love. As we sit in the music room of the sprawling mansion, which still retains the stylish grandeur and flamboyant decor that Mercury demanded, the vigil by fans continues outside the property’s perimeter wall. The years since his death have been lonely. It was an emotional and stress-filled mission for Mary, who lived with Mercury on and off for 20 years. But not even they were told where his ashes ultimately lie. But nobody will ever know where he is buried because that was his wish.’Ī few days beforehand, Mary invited Mercury’s parents to the house to say a few prayers in his memory. It had to be like a normal day so the staff wouldn’t suspect anything – because staff gossip. ‘One morning, I just sneaked out of the house with the urn. ‘I didn’t want anyone to suspect that I was doing anything other than what I would normally do. To avoid prying eyes, she didn’t even take her driver. Mary was left with Mercury's millions, but has also had to deal with his legions of jealous followers
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