Freddie Mercury’s home items up for sale at auction
The contents of former Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury's home are up for sale.
Over 33,000 items from Freddie Mercury''s house are being sold at Sotheby's auction house in September, reports BBC.
For more than 30 years, Freddie Mercury's London home has been untouched, a shrine to the legendary superstar of the rock band Queen who died in 1991 at the age of 45.
Now its contents – from Mercury's dazzling stage costumes and handwritten lyrics to paintings and beautiful objects collected on his travels – are to be sold at the auction.
Among the items are a crown modelled after St Edward's crown and an accompanying cloak made of red velvet, fake fur and rhinestones. Mercury wore the outfit for the final rendition of "God Save the Queen", which ended the band's last live performance at Knebworth in 1986.
Also included are the star's handwritten working lyrics to "We are the Champions", Queen's greatest anthem that was sung by arm-waving fans at live performances, including the crowd of 72,000 at the "Live Aid Concert" at Wembley Stadium in 1985. The item is expected to fetch up to £300,000.
Mercury's home, Garden Lodge in Kensington, was his haven from his flamboyant public persona, a place that friends could visit and stay. He filled it with works of art, including Victorian paintings and pieces by 20th-century artists, glasswork, and Japanese art and fabrics.
"I like to be surrounded by splendid things … exquisite clutter," Mercury wrote in "Freddie Mercury: A Life, In His Own Words".
He spent the last months of his life at Garden Lodge, and died there on November 24, 1991, 24 hours after confirming in a statement that he had Aids and appealing for his fans to join "the fight against this terrible disease".
He left Garden Lodge and its contents to Mary Austin, one of his closest and most trusted friends.
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