Freddie Mercury’s closest friend Mary Austin discussed the moment she became certain the Queen star was gay – and it took place before the couple talked about it.
They’d been living together for four years when Mercury told Austin he had something to say. But in a new interview with the Guardian, she revealed she’d known for some time.
Explaining why she’d fallen for him in the first place, she said: “He was different from the others. He was more creative. He was just more interesting.
“Like, he’d go to see the film Cabaret over and over again. I loved listening to him explain why he enjoyed it so much. I enjoyed the journey around his mind. It was like reading a book. You were always on this journey with him.”
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Recalling the moment they spoke about his sexuality, she recalled: “He struggled to get the words out. He said, ‘I think I’m bisexual.’ I said ‘No, Freddie, I think you’re gay.’” He didn’t argue.”
Asked if it had been an upsetting moment, Austin replied: “No – it was a huge relief, because I wasn’t sure whether we were traveling in the same direction any more.
“Some time earlier I saw a dress and thought, ‘That would be a really nice wedding dress.’ I asked Freddie, ‘Is it worth me buying it?’ And he looked at me and shook his head. So I knew from there on.”
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Austin was happy to change her status with respect to Mercury, becoming his personal assistant instead of his girlfriend. “We became better friends and it became a better relationship,” she said. “I was six-and-a-half stone; I was really stressed. And suddenly I’m not stressed any more.”
Even though she was technically Mercury’s employee, she said he never treated her like that. “[B]ut if he had treated me as an employee I would have sucked it up, because I’d know it’s because he’s in a foul mood or annoyed with someone or maybe I’d done something and not realized. We’d be honest with each other.“
Recalling what she described as the worst thing Mercury ever said to her, she reported: He once told me I was inefficient, and I totally agreed.”
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Gallery Credit: UCR Staff