When Freddie Mercury 'married' Bond girl Jane Seymour with George Michael, Madonna and others watching on

26 January 2024, 09:53

He was forever keen on a flamboyant celebration.

Freddie Mercury was renowned for the wild parties held at his Kensington home, where all sorts of debauchery would take place with everyone wearing lavish fancy dress costumes.

His neighbour at the time once recalled: "He encouraged people to be as outrageous as they wanted to be. It was like a festival."

There was even one instance where the legendary Queen frontman would even get 'married', as he needed no excuse to get dressed up.

The bride in question? Jane Seymour, a model and former Bond girl who appeared in 1973 thriller Let And Let Die opposite Roger Moore's 007.

• Freddie Mercury and Mary Austin: The insider's tale of their lifelong love story
• When Freddie Mercury admitted there was "nothing else left" between him and Queen bandmates
• When Freddie Mercury acted like a giddy kid next to his hero Montserrat Caballé during 1987 interview
• Watch Freddie Mercury bravely face his final filmed interview despite secret diagnosis

People still ponder if it was in fact a real marriage or not, but Freddie only 'wed' Seymour for a charity event held at the Royal Albert Hall.

Freddie never actually married in his life, though he came close once after proposing to Mary Austin, who was his girlfriend at the time and later became his lifelong friend.

So in 1985, when offered the opportunity to at least pretend to tie the knot, Freddie duly obliged.

That same year, Queen were riding high on the wave of global acclaim that followed their iconic Live Aid performance at Wembley Stadium.

Even though they didn't headline the event - Paul McCartney did - it was Queen and Freddie Mercury's bombastic performance that lives longest in the memory.

The legend of the Live Aid set was immortalised with Rami Malek's pitch-perfect performance in the 2018 biopic Bohemian Rhapsody.

Later in the Autumn, Bob Geldof organised another benefit event for the Ethiopian famine, which was held at London's iconic venue, the Royal Albert Hall.

Dubbed Fashion Aid, the charity event brought together the greatest names in fashion, with designers like David and Elizabeth Emanuel, Bruce Oldfield and Joseph Tricot taking part in the catwalk display.

There were also guests in attendance from the celebrity world and beyond, with The Beatles' former drummer Ringo Starr, actress Anjelica Huston, and even Margaret Thatcher in the audience.

A handful of the stars that performed at Live Aid also lent their support to Fashion Aid, with George Michael, Madonna, Grace Jones, Mick Jagger, Jerry Hall, and Boy George turning up for the event.

However, the evening's finale saw Freddie Mercury take the arm of model Jane Seymour down the catwalk, which ended in a faux marriage between the two.

Seymour's dress was made in a similar style to the one worn by Princess Diana on her wedding day to Prince Charles four years earlier in 1981.

The bridal collection - which also saw the model wear a lace veil covered in flowers - was even designed by Emanuels, who made Diana's wedding dress and was taking part in the catwalk.

After sealing their 'marriage' with a kiss, it was Freddie who threw her bouquet into the crowd for a lucky someone to catch.

It was all playful and done in the spirit of charity, though at the time Freddie's sexuality was not known to the general public, which might have convinced people it could have been genuine matrimony.

• Did Freddie Mercury really take Princess Diana to a London gay pub in the '80s?
• What Freddie Mercury thought of the Wayne's World scene that sparked Queen's revival
• Freddie Mercury feared one of his greatest songs was going to be a 'complete disaster'
• Brian May recalls "merciless" arguments with Freddie Mercury: "We said terrible things"

Jane Seymour later recalled the experience in a 2023 interview, revealing: "They said 'we'd like you to be the bride and your groom with be Freddie Mercury'".

"I went 'yes okay!', I mean I'm a huge fan. When they asked me to be involved with Fashion Aid, I said absolutely."

Talking about the wedding dress she wore on the night, Seymour said: "It was perfect. It couldn't have been any better. It fit me like a glove. I wonder where it went!"

She then described what Freddie was like in person, revealing: "He was very shy before we went out, then he suddenly became the mercurial Freddie Mercury."

"I couldn't manage the dress and the flowers that weighed too much, but I didn't want to let anyone down. Then there's Freddie and he's gone ahead [down the catwalk]. He's doing his thing and I'm like the bride trying to catch up."

"Eventually I do catch up, then he just grabbed me and kissed me, which I was not expecting. But I was very happy to be kissed by Freddie Mercury."

"Then of course he grabbed my big floral arrangement and threw it out! To this day, as far as my children and a lot of people are concerned, it was the highest, most important moments of my career being Freddie Mercury's bride."

"He kind of made it, and I was just so thrilled that I was there by his side and was a part of it."