Freddie Mercury's fiancee set to earn $240 million fortune 33 years after his death

Daily Express US ^ | June 30, 2024 | Connor McCrory

[where's_the_Outrage?]

Mary Austin, former fiancée of Queen's Freddie Mercury, is set to receive an estimated $237 million from a potential $1.26 billion deal with Sony.

Austin, 73, already inherited half of Mercury's estate after his death in 1991, with her share increasing to 75% following the passing of Mercury's parents.

She also receives 18.75% of revenues from Queen Productions, which manages the band's catalog.

This latest windfall could propel Austin into the ranks of Britain's 100 wealthiest women.

Austin met Mercury in 1970 when she was 19 and he was an aspiring musician. They were engaged in 1973, but separated in 1976 when Mercury came out as gay.

Despite this, they remained close, with Mercury calling her his common-law wife.

[MortMan]

“Earn”? I think the headline writer needs a dictionary.

[logi_cal869]

I read some of the comments.

My thought isn’t reflected.

She is very lucky indeed. Think about it.

[DoodleBob]

Well, there are some movie errors. The biggest was Freddie telling the band he’s HIV+ before Live Aid (that’s 1985). In reality, He didn’t find out until 1987, and by most accounts he waited almost until the end to tell his band mates.

Broadly, it’s an accurate film and celebrates the band vs the sleazier side. By contrast, every movie about Karen Carpenter is about eating disorders with a smattering of music. If I want a PSA I’ll frequent PBS.

[DIRTYSECRET]

*He left it to her because he loved her. No different than someone leaving their wealth to a parent or child.*

Totally true. A beautiful human being.

[NetAddicted]

I’m surprised his fiancee is a woman.

[Jumper]

Sensitive stuck a never. I never listened to Queen. Could not stand them. Just knowing about Freddie was enough.

I had to google him. Famous Freak.

I just don’t understand how they could award this to someone he was not married, given his boyfriend he lived with. Someone got payola to settle this.

[Revel]

LOL

No, but this was:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3xwCkhmies

[Albion Wilde]

She dumped him romantically when she found out.

She did not "dump" him; they made an agonizing decision after seven years together, and very much remained friends until his death. She was deeply in love and sympathetic to him; but did it occur to you that she may have wanted to have children and a settled life for them?

He wanted to explore his bisexual impulses, and at the time, the LGBT scene was if possible even more wildly promiscuous than today, since AIDS awareness would not come until later. Many married gays of the era tried to keep it "on the downlow" and also stay with the wife and children they loved. Given his fame, that was not going to be an option. She showed him understanding and let him go without rancor. He continued to talk to her by phone almost daily.

Growing up and initially denying his sexuality, he fell in with an artistically irreplaceable set of heterosexual bandmates who all had girlfriends or wives. If he revealed himself, would it break up the band or the friendship? He was also dealing the expectations of a more conservative society at the time, his Zoroastrian religious upbringing (which was honored at his funeral) and his respect for his parents (“Mama, I just killed a man...didn't mean to make you cry" referred to his own inner struggle, in my humble opinion).

Freddy with his mom (below), who outlived him by 25 years, dying in 2016 at age 94:

His mother was quoted as saying:

“Freddie kept a strict division between his work and his home all his life. If I ever asked, he would say, ‘Mum, that is business, and this is family.’ He was kind and very respectful both to myself and his father.”

That does not make her his common law wife.

She didn't name herself that; he did, in an interview with his biographer Lesley-Ann Jones published in 2012. Both had entered the relationship neither having come to the full realization that he would eventually identify as gay; it took him seven years before he eventually confronted the issue with Mary. There have been several other long biographies published over the years that detail their relationship, which took place in the rebellious 60s/70s when even hetero hipsters were questioning whether marriage was necessary.

For whatever reason though he declared that he would always love her. A couple of his songs are said to be about her.

The reason was that he loved her—as he, she, their families and his bandmates were aware at the time.

I always thought that she had already inherited the money.

The article, had you read it, explains that.

[Revel]

I said nothing inaccurate IMO. You are just nitpicking the meaning of what I said. The common law wife thing was from the article and it was a stab at the author of the article.

He explored, and now he is dead because of it.

[Revel]

And yes it is common for me to stop reading an article when I start seeing crap. To me that means that I can’t trust the author.

[quilterdebbie]

Agreed. Wow, I didn’t realize that about the movies about Karen Carpenter. I won’t waste my time!

[DoodleBob]

To wit:

https://karencarpenterdoc.com/the-film/

The Film
She was the first in a long line of celebrities to suffer from an eating disorder during an era when the vastly misunderstood phenomenon brought shame and public humiliation.

For the first time, we hear Karen Carpenter’s personal struggle in her own voice through never-before-released recordings—and through the legendary voices of those who knew her and were inspired by her music.

As the #1 American musical act of the 1970s, the Carpenters were on “Top of the World,” producing a string of pop masterpieces, including “Close to You,” “We’ve Only Just Begun,” and “Rainy Days and Mondays.” But behind closed doors, Karen’s quest for perfection resulted in low self-esteem, a disheartening love life, and a public battle with anorexia nervosa, which resulted in her untimely death at the age of only 32.

Karen Carpenter: Starving for Perfection is a captivating, revealing, and unvarnished documentary providing astounding new insight into the singer’s tragically short life and enduring musical legacy.

[Gene Eric]

Very modest by today’s standards. And his performance persona wasn’t really that different from many others of that era. Upon hearing about his sickness & death, I assumed it was AIDS related. Wasn’t interested in learning about the details — didn’t care. Many other outstanding vocalists from the 60/70s are still alive and doing well today. They were probably more selective about with whom they bedded.