Who Is Freddie Mercury’s Longtime Partner and Friend Mary Austin? – Showbiz Cheat Sheet

September 18, 2022 Kim Martel

Not everyone maintains a close relationship with their former lovers, but Queen frontman Freddie Mercury had one with his. Throughout his life, and especially during his time in the spotlight, Mercury grappled with his sexuality, but in all the turmoil, he had a constant friend in Mary Austin. But who is Mercury’s longtime partner and friend, Austin?

Freddie Mercury and Mary Austin met through a bandmate

mary austin freddie mercury — Singer Freddie Mercury (1946 – 1991) of Queen attends Fashion Aid at the Royal Albert Hall in London, with his friend Mary Austin, 5th November 1985. | Dave Hogan/Getty Images

Before Mercury became famous, he was a groupie who toured with the other members of Queen in their previous bands prior to teaming up to form one of the best rock bands of all time. Mercury, born Farrokh Bulsara, was born in 1946 in Zanzibar, Tanzania, and moved to England with his parents in the ’60s.

On the other hand, Austin was born into a low-income family in South London, where her father worked as a wallpaper trimmer while her mother worked for a small company as a domestic. Austin’s parents were both deaf.

Mercury and Austin met in 1969 through Queen’s guitarist Brian May, when he was 24, and she was 19. The two hit it off instantaneously, and it didn’t take long for their relationship to move to the next level. Mercury and Austin moved in together into a small apartment as he worked on his career.

As his music picked up, the couple moved to a larger home in London’s Holland Road, and on Christmas 1973, the singer asked Austin to marry him. According to Austin, the proposal was “like one of his playful games” as she had to fish out the jade ring from several boxes. Austin told the Daily Mail in 2013 that it came as a surprise, but she still accepted it. She was 23 at the time.

Freddie Mercury grappled with his sexuality

Despite Mercury and Queen’s success, things at home weren’t going well. By the mid-70s, the pair had been in a relationship for six years, and marriage was no longer a discussion which made Austin feel uneasy. She decided to take up the matter with Mercury telling him, “Something is going on, and I just feel like a noose around your neck. I think it’s time for me to go.”

Although the Queen frontman insisted everything was OK, Austin recalled their romance cooling after. She also recalled thinking Mercury was having an affair. By 1976, Mercury was a fully-fledged superstar, and he was ready to discuss his sexuality with his longtime partner.

Austin told the Daily Mail that she was naïve when he came out to her as bisexual and recalled telling him he was gay and not bisexual. The revelation of his sexuality ended Austin and Mercury’s physical relationship, and she moved to a nearby flat which Mercury, through his publishing company, had bought for her.

Still, Austin remained a huge part of Mercury’s life and, to an extension, a part of Queen’s. She toured with them and always hung out with them.

Freddie Mercury left his fortune to Mary Austin

Despite parting ways, Austin and Mercury remained an integral part of each other’s lives. He went out and lived a rock star life fueled by random sexual rendezvous and substance abuse. Austin, on her end, made her own path, having two children with Piers Cameron; Richard, Mercury’s godson, and Jamie, born shortly after the singer’s death.

In 1987, Mercury was diagnosed with HIV, and since there was no treatment, he died of AIDS-related complications in 1991 with Austin by his side. According to Biography, Mercury left Austin everything; his house and a share of his publishing company, inheriting half of his $75 million estate. He also asked her to place his ashes at an undisclosed location.