Did Freddie Mercury have a secret daughter? Claims explained as friends speak out

13 August 2025, 11:04 | Updated: 13 August 2025, 13:33

The claim that Freddie Mercury had a secret daughter will be explored in a new book.

As one of the 20th century’s greatest stars, Freddie Mercury’s life has been explored in great detail.

From his shining career in the spotlight as the lead singer of Queen to his private life and tragic death, for greater or worse, there’s not much that fans feel they don’t know about Freddie.

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But earlier this year, it was suddenly revealed that the ‘We Will Rock You’ star might have hidden a child from the world for all these years.

Here’s all we know about the claim Freddie Mercury had a secret daughter...

Where does the rumour that Freddie Mercury had a secret daughter come from?

The claim that Freddie Mercury had a secret daughter was first revealed in May 2025, when the Daily Mail published details of an upcoming Freddie Mercury biography that will revolve around the topic.

Entitled Love, Freddie, the book – which will be out in September – makes use of previously unseen journals to tell the story of the ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ singer’s life.

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Freddie reportedly wrote and then gave these journals to his daughter as they corresponded away from the public eye.

Who is Freddie Mercury’s rumoured secret daughter?

Freddie Mercury’s rumoured secret daughter’s identity has not been revealed. So far, in all material relating to her existence, she is referred to only as ‘B’.

B reportedly gave rock biographer Lesley-Ann Jones access to her story and Freddie’s journals, allowing for Lesley-Ann to turn the story into her new book.

“My instinct was to doubt everything, but I am absolutely sure she is not a fantasist,” the author told the Daily Mail in May.

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“No one could have faked all this. Why would she have worked with me for three and a half years, never demanding anything?”

Many fans are sceptical of the idea that Freddie had a secret daughter, but admit that her desire to seemingly not gain any notoriety from this revelation adds credibility to her potential existence.

In a handwritten letter featured in the book, B writes: “Freddie Mercury was and is my father. We had a very close relationship from the moment I was born and throughout the final 15 years of his life.”

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B’s conception allegedly took place after Freddie had a short affair with the wife of a close friend in 1976.

“The circumstances of my birth may seem, by most people’s standards, unusual and even outrageous,” B’s statement continues.

“It never detracted from his commitment to love and look after me. He cherished me like a treasured possession.”

On her choice to share Freddie’s journals and her existence with the world now, at the age of 48, B explains elsewhere in the book: “After more than three decades of lies, speculation and distortion, it is time to let Freddie speak.

“Those who have been aware of my existence kept his greatest secret out of loyalty to Freddie.

“That I choose to reveal myself in my own midlife is my decision and mine alone. I have not, at any point, been coerced into doing this.

“He entrusted his collection of private notebooks to me, his only child and his next of kin, the written record of his private thoughts, memories and feelings about everything he had experienced.”

Did Freddie Mercury ever admit to having a secret daughter?

During his lifetime, Freddie Mercury never suggested he had any children.

This year’s revelation regarding B seemingly hints that Freddie did share the news of his daughter’s birth with some close friends, however.

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But since news of Love, Freddie hit the press, doubt has been raised about the story’s validity as several of the singer’s closest allies have claimed they had no inkling of B’s existence until this year.

In an August interview with the Sunday Times, Freddie’s closest friend, former partner and the main beneficiary of his will, Mary Austin, revealed she did not know of B’s existence.

“Freddie had a glorious openness, and I cannot imagine he would have wanted to, or been able to, keep such a joyful event a secret, either from me or other people closest to him,” she shared.

“The truth is that I am simply not the guardian of such a secret,” Austin continued. “I’ve never known of any child, or of any diaries.

“If Freddie had indeed had a child without me knowing anything about it, that would be astonishing to me.”

Love, Freddie’s author Lesley-Ann Jones responded to Mary Austin’s comments by saying: “What I would say is that the real inner circle – the other members of Queen and Freddie’s sister – would have denied this if they could, weeks ago, when the story broke.

“They cannot because, as Freddie’s daughter says, they know that it is true.”

Asked about Freddie's rumoured secret daughter in July, Brian May said he wished to remain “neutral” on the topic.

However, his wife, EastEnders actress Anita Dobson (who was also close with Freddie) told the Mirror the revelation might be “fake news”.

“I said to Brian, ‘Do you know about this?’ And he said: ‘Do you believe this?’” she added. “It seems inconceivable that he would have a child with someone we don’t know about.”