Mary Austin, Freddie Mercury's True Soul Mate

Mercury and Austin

The story of Freddie Mercury and Mary Austin shows that true love does not always involve carnal relations , but something higher that comes right from the heart , which is the purest , true and sincere of all feelings...

A moment of tenderness between the couple

All begun in a boutique named Biba located in London. (at the right)

Biba was not just a boutique at the end of the 60's and early 70's, tt was a lifestyle.

Young people used to let the place fully crowded  just to find the nicest piece of clothes, While most products were geared toward women , men could find shirts, pajamas and other articles suitable for them. Biba was what was fashionable at the time.

In the spring of 1970 , on the third floor/men's section, Freddie Bulsara and Roger Taylor , two friends, always used to went there to see what it was fashion trend or to buy some clothes on sale to sell on a bankroll he had at the old Kensington Market.

On one of these trips to it Freddie Mercury met one of the boutique consultants, Mary Georgina Austin.

Mary Austin was working as a PR at Biba's, store that was visited by famous customers such as Paul McCartney and Mick Jagger and of course, the young Freddie Bulsara.

Freddie always wanted to date Mary. He was really attracted to her... to her blond hair , green eyes, and her bright smile. 

Young Freddy and Mary

Mary was 19 years old and Freddie 23 when they 1st met. Until then , she was living a very modest life. Her parents were poor . Her father worked as a hand trimmer for wallpaper specialists and her mother was a domestic for a small company. Both parents were deaf and used to communicate through sign language and lip reading. Mary left school when she was 15 years old. Her first job was as a intern secretary at Remingtons , earning £ 5 a week. Later as a public relations at Biba's in Kensington.

But it was not just Freddie that noticed Mary's beauty, Brian May also noted it and went on to visit the store frequently to see her. In the documentary "Freddie Mercury - the Untold Story ( 2000)", Brian May said he and Freddie were in this boutique to enjoy the beauty of the women who worked there , and one of those women was Mary Austin...

Models at Biba's

Thus Mary spent six months avoiding Freddie , she went out sometimes with Brian May, but the dating did not work out well. But Freddie always was there to see her and to say " hi " to her. Sometimes he went with a buddy, and other times solo... Freddie was always asking  to Brian Mary , if she was seeing someone, or if Brian was dating her, because he wanted to ask her out, and it took five months for that to happen ...
But when Freddie 1st asked her for a date on the day of his 24th birthday, Mary pretended she was busy that night, but Freddie was insistent and they had a date in the next day. He wanted to go see Mott The Hoople at the Marquee Club in Soho. Freddie hadn't much money, so they used to do normal things , like any other young people. There were no fancy dinners, that only came later, when he reached the fame and glory. It took about three years for her to really feel she was in love with Freddie.

They would be Queen and King forever

Freddie presented Mary with some of his drawings . Mary still has one of his excellent drawings of Jimi Hendrix . She found herself fascinated by this "wild-looking artistic musician". She said that he was one of a kind. He was very confident and she wasn't. they grew up together and she liked him...

On the day the group met to choose the new name of the band, Roger Taylor and Brian were having thoughts about the name Freddy propose, but he used all his power of persuasion to convince everyone that Queen was the best name, and he managed to convince the group and win the heart of Mary at the same time. They would be Queen and King forever.

From that day on , they became best friends and lovers and Freddie composed the song " Love of My Life" to Mary.

Brian always said that they were born for each other. Both were very reserved , shy and always kept his mouth shut when it came to personal matters. Despite their education they were very different. Freddie's parents sent him to study in Mumbai , leaving his hometown of Stone Town, Zanzibar. Mary had to leave school because her parents were extremely poor, and she was one of five brothers.

From that day on they became best friends and lovers

In those early months , Freddie and Mary rented a room that cost them 10 pounds per week in Victoria Road, not far from Kensington Market. They put some curtains and started living together but had to share the bathroom and kitchen with another couple.

It was at a concert held at Ealing College of Art, School of Art where he studied, that Mary acknowledged for the 1st time the quality of Freddie talent. Things had suddenly taken a turn for him and the band. She saw how Freddie was so good on stage, as if it were something he'd stored the 1st time the met... She was happy for him but at the 1st time, afraid to loose him.

When he came off the stage all the girls and his friends were crowding around him. She started to walk away but he came running after her . That night, she realized that she had to go along with it and be part of it . She was happy that he wanted to stay with her.

She was happy that he wanted to stay with her

She felt very secure with him. The more she knew , the more she loved him for himself. He had quality as a person, which it was rare in life back then and on these days. One thing that was always constant was the love . They knew they could trust in each other and that they were safe with each other . they knew that they wouldn't hurt each other on purpose.

The first time she took Freddie , with his thick mane of long black hair , home to meet his father in Fulham . she was afraid how her father would react. 

Unfortunately her mother never met Freddie , because she had died four years earlier. There were some looks and comments from the neighbors. Then she realized that bringing home this musician could be a shock to her father, but everything went just fine.

At Christmas in 1972 , Freddie Mercury bought her a ring.  A bit odd, with an Egyptian style gold beetle. Mary thought he was going to propose , after opening box after box until she founf a beautiful Egyptian scarab ring. It's a ring to bring good luck, said Freddie . He was very sweet and quite shy about giving it to her. But it was not a proposal.
Queen became such a successful band that, in a couple of years later, they were already installed in the imperial "flat" in Holland Park . This has cost them £ 19 per week.

The Queen in the imperial "flat" in Holland Park

Mary always had a maternal sense very developed. Brian May also said that Mary was truly the Freddie's mother, who forgave him everything. Maybe that's why they lived together for six long years, despite his constant infidelities.

Everything changed one day when Freddie told her he had something important to say, something that would change their whole relationship forever . They were just not as close as they had been in the past. After that, he felt relived about having finally told her that he was in fact bisexual. Mary decided to move and leave the relationship, but Freddie insisted that she should not get too far from him.

The band was successful. Queen won so much money that Freddie insisted on buying a mansion in Holland Park, Garden Lodge , with its twenty rooms, but did not want to lose sight of Mary . Then he gave her a flat. It was perfect for people living alone. She was very happy there. It was small , but she liked it. Her life has always been a struggle.

Freddie insisted that she should not get too far from him

She could see Freddie's house from her window. So far and so close . The duality typical or bipolarity of this genius Freddie hired Mary to be his secretary and thus became the matriarch of the Queen family . She was the head , "jack of all trades" about Freddie's whims. That is, his mother, his secretary, and trusted person . All in one.

Mary became the matriarch of Queen's family

The proximity of the couple always caused problems to the new boyfriends of Mary. Soon they realized they had to share the love of Mary with the rock star and that special bond of loyalty and friendship could never be penetrated by a newcomer. Even the father of two sons of Mary, Piers Cameron , decided that this particular situation was too much and ended up disappearing from Mary's life completely. cause he was feeling overshadowed by Freddie, Freddie then expanded the horizons of Mary's life and brought her to the world of ballet, opera and art. She learned a lot from him. She could never live him.

The curious thing about the love story of Freddie and Mary is that nothing happened when Mary became pregnant with her ​​first child with Piers Cameron , who did not like Freddie.

When Mary's first child was born , they put the name of Richard and Freddie was the godfather .

Mary was one of the 1st people to know about the tragic news that Freddie had AIDS. To complicate matters, she was pregnant with her ​​second son, Jamie, and had to do mental and emotional tricks to stay all day with Freddie knowing about his condition. She spent every minute she could with him.

Freddie decided to face death for refusing to take the medication.

He took the decision to end it all , he chose the moment of his death.

He knew the end was near , and suddenly said, "I decided that I have to go".

The quality of his life had changed so drastically and he was suffering more pain every day. He was losing his vision. His increasingly weak body was suffering little spasms. 

Until that fateful day, November 24, 1991.

When Freddie Mercury 1st told his former girlfriend , Mary Austin , that he wanted to leave his imposing mansion in Kensington, London , for her, her immediate reaction was of surprise. In fact, she was terrified as much as taking huge responsibility that tried to convince him to let go of the house , with its beautiful collection of antique furniture and paintings, to a foundation and museum. Freddie considered this option but decided he wanted to give it all to Mary.

Freddy's House

Willingly Freddie Mercury left Mary Austin his Garden Lodge mansion , plus two houses and half of all current assets and of future royalties. A fortune of 40 million pounds. Only 500,000 pounds to his employee, Joe Fanelli, and the same values ​​for his boyfriend, Jim Hutton, and his personal assistant, Peter Freestone. Other £ 100,000 to his driver, Terry Giddins. For his family he left 25 % of his properties to his sister, Kashmir Cooke, and the other 25 % percent to his parents, Jer Bulsara and Bomi Bulsara.
In his will , was a clear message that Mary would be responsible for the whereabouts of his ashes.

It seems almost certain that Mary didn't buried him in the Kensal Green cemetery in west London or in the Swan Lake in Montreaux . Neither in the Indian Ocean in Zanzibar or in the gardens of his mansion , Garden Lodge.

Mary kept the decor and furnishings as they were when Freddie was around. His death left a void in her life. She lost someone that was her eternal love. She felt she was married all the time with him. They had lived their votes. They had been together through thick and thin , in wealth, and in poverty.

Eight years later, she married Nick , a businessman from London. They married in Long Island without telling anyone , only her two sons, Richard and Jamie.

Mary and her two sons

Text Source by William Nilsen

Translated and adapted by Marcelo Tavares