Mary Austin recalls Freddie Mercury's final words to her on his deathbed

3 September 2026, 11:24

Freddie Mercury’s former fiancée and lifelong confidante Mary Austin has revealed the final words the Queen frontman said to her as she sat beside his deathbed. Picture: Getty

By Giorgina Hamilton

Freddie Mercury's ex-fiancée has opened up about the poignant final words the Queen frontman said to her.

Loading audio...

Freddie Mercury’s former fiancée and lifelong confidante Mary Austin has revealed the final words the Queen frontman said to her as she sat beside his deathbed.

The Queen singer died at his beloved Kensington home, Garden Lodge, on November 24, 1991, aged 45, following complications from AIDS.

Mary, who had remained one of the singer’s closest friends long after their romantic relationship ended, was pregnant with her second son, Jamie, when Mercury became gravely ill.

In a rare interview with The Guardian, she recalled sitting beside his bed and holding his hand as he drifted in and out of consciousness under the effects of morphine.

In a rare interview with The Guardian, Mary recalled sitting beside Freddie's bed and holding his hand as he drifted in and out of consciousness under the effects of morphine. Picture: Getty

Mary, who had remained one of the singer’s closest friends long after their romantic relationship ended, was pregnant with her second son, Jamie, when Mercury became gravely ill. Picture: Getty

Asked if she remembered the last words he said to her, Mary initially fell silent. “I was holding his hand,” she recalled.

Freddie eventually regained consciousness and looked at the woman who had been by his side for more than two decades.

His last words to her were simply: “My old faithful.”

Mary admitted the remark did not have quite the romantic effect that might be expected. “So I felt a bit like a dog,” she joked. “I wasn’t flattered.”

The understated exchange came at the end of a long battle with an illness Freddie Mercury had gone to extraordinary lengths to keep private.

Mary revealed Freddie told her he was HIV positive in the spring of 1987 and they agreed to keep the diagnosis secret, while both understood his ability to perform live would soon be affected.

He had already spoken to her about the physical pain he was experiencing and as his health deteriorated, Freddie retreated increasingly from public view, while continuing to make music.

Mary recalled photographers gathering outside the property in the final weeks of his life and following him when he left for medical appointments. Picture: Getty

His visibly frail appearance in the video for 'These Are the Days of Our Lives', filmed in 1991, prompted further concern about his health.

Behind closed doors, Mary remained part of the small circle around him, recalling how Freddie was even frightened of getting close to her eldest son Richard, despite being his godfather.

Knowing he had AIDS and faced with the uncertainty and fear surrounding HIV at the time, Freddie worried that he should not touch the child, but Mary did not share those fears.

As Freddie's condition worsened, she spent time beside his bed, holding his hand and, in her words, doing “whatever I needed to do”.

Outside Garden Lodge, however, speculation about the singer's health had become relentless.

Mary recalled photographers gathering outside the property in the final weeks of his life and following him when he left for medical appointments.

The pair's relationship was played out in the 2018 Queen biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody (pictured: Lucy Boynton as Mary Austin and Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury in the flim). Picture: Alamy

At one point, she said, a courier collecting photographers' film asked whether there was any news, only for someone to shout: “No, he’s not dead yet.”

“They were waiting, vulture-like,” Mary said, adding the singer eventually needed decoys to leave the house.

Freddie Mercury finally confirmed the truth publicly on November 23, 1991. Following years of speculation, he announced that he had tested HIV positive and had AIDS, explaining that he had previously kept the information private to protect those around him.

He also called on his fans to join him, his doctors and others around the world in fighting the disease.

Freddie Mercury's relationship with soulmate Mary Austin explained

Mary believes there was significance in Mercury’s decision to publicly acknowledge his diagnosis rather than allow his illness to be attributed to something else.

She said he wanted his legacy to be one of “acceptance of and support for people with AIDS”.

Just one day after releasing the statement, Freddie died at Garden Lodge from bronchial pneumonia resulting from AIDS.

For Mary, however, their final private exchange was characteristic of a relationship that had never fitted neatly into conventional definitions.

Mary revealed Freddie told her he was HIV positive in the spring of 1987 and they agreed to keep the diagnosis secret, while both understood his ability to perform live would soon be affected. — Mary revealed Freddie told her he was HIV positive in the spring of 1987 (pictured with Brian May in 2002). Picture: Getty

Despite once asking her to marry him and later describing her as his common-law wife, Mary revealed that Freddie never actually told her he loved her, instead he would show his affection in his own way: “He bought things.”

Asked instead whether she considered him the love of her life, she had a simple answer. “I think I can say, in retrospect, so far, yes, he is the love of my life.”

Mary Austin is now revisiting her extraordinary relationship with Freddie in a new book, A Life in Lyrics, drawing on his private notebooks, handwritten lyrics and her own memories of the man behind the global rock-star persona.