Queen: Freddie Mercury sings to 'soulmate' Mary Austin in touching footage from 1986 - video
14 April 2022, 12:25 | Updated: 26 April 2023, 19:01
Vintage footage of Freddie Mercury singing to Mary Austin in 1986 shows the close and trusting bond between the pair.
Shot in Hungary in 1986, Freddie Mercury and the 'love of his life' Mary Austin are seen standing side by side as the Queen frontman looks to her for reassurance while he sings.
The two were being interviewed ahead of the Hungarian Rhapsody: Queen Live in Budapest concert in Budapest on 27 July 1986 when the touching moment took place.
The trust between them is crystal clear as Freddie is seen attempting to sing in Hungarian while he continually turns to his 'soulmate' to check he is doing ok and his pronunciation is up to scratch.
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Freddie is practising the traditional Hungarian folk song 'Tavaszi Szél Vizet Áraszt' that he will later sing live in front of 100,000 people at the Budapest concert.
The huge night in the Hungarian capital was one of the final stops on The Magic Tour, Queen's last tour with Freddie Mercury as their frontman.
Freddie Mercury's ex-love Mary Austin was by the singer's side throughout his life and was even the inspiration behind the song 'Love Of My Life'.
Watch Freddie sing to Mary at 1:30 minutes below...
Freddie Mercury - Interlude (Hungarian Rhapsody: Live in Budapest 1986) (Full HD)
The softly spoken working-class girl was brought up by her deaf parents, and remained by Freddie's side until his death in 1991.
Freddie Mercury and Mary Austin were so close, that at one stage Freddie asked her to marry him, and he also left her half of his £75million estate, including the £25million Georgian mansion in Kensington.
Freddie first met Mary in 1969, five years after moving to England.
Aged 24 at the time, he had just finished art college, and a 19-year-old Mary was working in a West London fashion boutique, and love soon blossomed.
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They soon shared a small flat near Kensington Market, where Freddie had a clothes stall with Queen drummer Roger Taylor.
He is said to have told her that he was bisexual in 1976. Mary later said: “I’ll never forget that moment. I remember saying to him, ‘No Freddie, I don’t think you are bisexual. I think you are gay’.”
Watch Freddie Mercury singing a Hungarian folk song in Budapest, 1986 below:
Queen - Tavaszi szél vizet áraszt (Hungarian song) - Live in Budapest 27 July 1986
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They soon broke up and she soon moved into a nearby flat, and Freddie started hosting wild parties. However, Mary remained close, and even worked for his management company.
Freddie once said: "All my lovers asked me why they couldn’t replace Mary, but it’s simply impossible. The only friend I’ve got is Mary, and I don’t want anybody else. To me, she was my common-law wife. To me, it was a marriage."
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"We believe in each other. That’s enough for me. I couldn’t fall in love with a man the same way as I have with Mary."
Mary Austin still lives in the West London mansion where Freddie died from an AIDS-related illness in 1991. It was only in 2019 that she finally took down tributes to the late singer.
