Freddie Mercury's sister 'secretly spends £3M to get back singer's memorabilia amid battle with his 'wife' Mary Austin over star's possessions'

Daily Mail​

23-04-2025

Freddie Mercury 's sister reportedly spent a staggering £3million to get her hands on the late singer's personal belongings, after his former partner put them up for auction.
Mary Austin was the woman who won the heart of the rock legend and has been the beneficiary of his fortune since his death from AIDS-related pneumonia in 1991.
However, upon learning that Mary, 74, had put up some of Freddie's memorabilia for sale, his sister Kashmira Bulsara, 73, is alleged to have been left devastated and determined to keep them in the family.
According to the Sun, she and her son Jamal Zook decided to take part in the bidding and shell out for the Queen star's possessions, while remaining anonymous so as not to to alert Mary.
A source told the publication: 'Kashmira was angry and upset to see so many of her beloved brother's possessions become available for anyone to buy.'
They explained that she went to a private viewing beforehand to see the items being sold and then sent her PA to Sotheby's on her behalf, while watching online and telling her assistant how much to bid'
They added: 'They had set aside a huge budget so were actually very happy with the final figure laid out, despite paying well over the estimated price for each one.
'Of course, Kashmira appreciates how adored Freddie was across the world, but she was saddened to think of some of his sentimental belongings not being with his loved ones.'
It is claimed that among the items Kashmira bought was a £139,700 waistcoat adorned with pictures of Freddie's six cats, which he wore in the music video for These Are The Days Of Our Lives, just six months before his death.
The Sun also reports she paid £406,400 for a Wurlitzer Model 850 jukebox and £279,400 for eight pages of draft lyrics to 1974 Queen hit track Killer Queen.
And she's said to have spent the most cash on a military jacket that was made for her brother's 39th birthday, shelling out a staggering £457,200.
The other reported items were a £22,860 lamp made from a Daum Persimmons vase, a £40,640 Nike sweatshirt and a cube-shaped ice bucket for £19,000.
Representatives for Kashmira declined to comment when approached by MailOnline, while Mary's representatives have also been contacted.
Mary previously sold more than 1,400 of the Freddie's belonging for a total of £12,172,290 at an auction run by Sotheby's in September 2023.
The items were sold following a month-long exhibition, called Freddie Mercury 'A World of his Own', featuring a never-before-seen private collection of the star's personal possessions from his home, Garden Lodge.
His collection at Garden Lodge had remained largely untouched for some 30 years after his death, with him leaving the hose and its belonging to Mary, who told the BBC: 'It's a very intelligent, sophisticated collection and I don't think one would really attribute that... to Freddie.'
Over 140,000 people visited the London exhibition to see the collection, before the six auctions which saw a record number of bids from 61 countries.
The top item was Freddie's beloved Yamaha Baby Grand piano that he bought in 1975 and used to compose hits such as Bohemian Rhapsody and Don't Stop Me Now - selling for a record £1.7 million.
Other top-selling items included handwritten working lyrics for Bohemian Rhapsody, which sold for £1.4 million, while Freddie's rainbow-coloured satin jacket sold for £203,200.
A silver snake bangle worn in the Bohemian Rhapsody video in 1975 sold for almost 100 times its estimate at £698,500, Sotheby's said.
Mary donated some of the proceeds to the Mercury Phoenix Trust, a charity set up in Freddie's honour by his bandmates and manager Jim Beach, as well as the Elton John Aids Foundation.
Explaining why she had decided to sell the belongings, she told the BBC: 'The time has come for me to take the difficult decision to close this very special chapter in my life. I need to put my affairs in order.
Mary and Freddie first met in 1970 when he was a young aspiring musician, who had moved to London six years prior from his birth country, Zanzibar (pictured in 1986)
'I decided that it wouldn't be appropriate for me to keep things back. If I was going to sell, I had to be brave and sell the lot.'
While Sotheby's explained she had 'decided that Freddie's adored Yamaha Baby Grand Piano, which she has so treasured over the years, should now be offered without reserve, so as to open the possibility of bidding to a broader base of potential buyers'.
Mary and Freddie first met in 1970 when he was a young aspiring musician, who had moved to London six years prior from his birth country, Zanzibar.
The former couple moved in together and got engaged in 1973, but three years later Freddie came out to her and told her he was gay.
Mary and Freddie would never legally marry, but he called her his 'wife' even long after he'd confessed his true sexuality, which ended their romance.
In a rare interview, Mary, recalled: 'He said, 'I think I am bisexual. I told him: 'I think you're gay.' And nothing else was said. We just hugged.' Mary and Freddie remained the closest of friends throughout his life.