BLOG 64

I was reminded last week about the great loyalty Queen had to those who were close to them, whether for work, touring, recording etc, and in their private lives. Once they found people who they trusted, the people were there for good, or until they truly disappointed the band. What made me think about this was seeing some photos of Freddie on Queen’s first tour of Japan, and seeing the same bodyguard that was on duty on my last visit there with Queen. Freddie insisted that he be the one to take care of him on each visit.

Dariusz asked if Freddie hated the colour green.
I don’t think Freddie hated green. He didn’t wear it very often as he felt it wasn’t a colour than did him justice. Saying that you would be surprised how different shades of green appeared in the decoration of Garden Lodge. Two examples that come to mind immediately are the ‘racing’ green of the curtains in his dining room and also the ‘sage’ green used in the guest suite in the house.

Lisa wanted to know if Freddie practised yoga or meditated.
To my knowledge Freddie wasn’t involved in either practise. I think Freddie’s philosophy was that the more he was able to do, the more relaxed he would be. For Freddie, all the time I knew him, time was a precious commodity that he didn’t have enough of.

Ara asked why it wasn’t me who informed Freddie’s parents about his death.
Mary Austin was the obvious person to talk to Freddie’s mother and father at that time as she had constant contact with them for about 20 years. She was the one who visited them with Freddie and she would talk with them on the phone when Freddie was away for any length of time. While they knew me, I only really spoke to them a few times, so I think it would have been harder to hear that news from me.

Anett wondered what Queen thought about the show in Budapest.
I think their feelings are plastered all over their faces when you watch the concert on dvd. I know Freddie loved the fact that they were in Hungary and the atmosphere that was in the stadium when he went on the stage. The audience reception was great and of course this was a new territory for them to perform in. It also helped his mood that he was able to shop and buy some wonderful porcelain.

Andrew asked about Freddie and Ibiza.
Freddie stayed in two different places during his visits to Ibiza in the late 80s. He loved staying at Roger’s villa at the beginning, but then found Pike’s hotel, where he could accommodate more friends on his visits. As usual, when Freddie went on holiday, a large group of friends would also go along. There were a couple of clothes shops in the Old Town that he used to go to and buy shirts for everyone. The big club he would go to on occasion was the Ku Club, where Montserrat and he first performed Barcelona, but he preferred the more anonymous places high in the Old Town, though there was a larger club called Amfora that he used to like.

Kellee asked a quite appropriate question, where can you buy a genuine set of Queen autographs.
I say appropriate because of some recent posts on facebook. I don’t know anywhere where you can buy a set of genuine autographs. Many are floating around that are obvious fakes; many have certificates with them that are also fakes in themselves, saying that, I do know many people who do have the genuine article. If you find an auction house selling an autograph, it should be from a trustworthy source, with some sort of provenance. When I am asked about signatures, I usually have one thing to say, which most people know… the only way to know it is 100% genuine is if you were there to witness it yourself.

Lena wanted to know about the opening of the song It’s A Hard Life.
When visiting the opera for the first time, Lena heard this music at the start of the opera I Pagliacci and also at the beginning of the aria Vesti la guibba. For Freddie those bars of music really represented the epitome of the operatic tenor as he used to listen to lps of Pavarotti and Domingo. It didn’t matter which tenor he listened to, that aria was always sung, so that is what stuck in his mind. I suppose it could be seen as Freddie’s tribute to opera.

Diego asked how I met Freddie.
I’m sure many of you know this, but here goes. The very first time I saw Freddie was in the very early 70s when I was in the Rainbow Room at Biba when Freddie walked in, wearing the fox fur jacket, long hair and painted finger nails, with Mary. The next time I saw him we actually talked. I was working at the Royal Opera House in London, for the Royal Ballet, taking care of the costumes and Freddie was a special guest at a charity gala that the Royal Ballet was organising. Freddie performed Crazy Little Thing Called Love and Bohemian Rhapsody while dancing with the dancers. I met Freddie at the party afterwards and said to him that I thought the combination of Freddie, Queen music and The Royal Ballet was an amazing combination. He thanked me and asked what work I did as he had seen me at the Opera House when he came for rehearsals. I described it and that was the end of the conversation. 2 weeks later the Queen office rang up my boss asking if I would be interested in a 6 week contract looking after the stage costumes for Queen…. And the rest is history.

Allison asked about the origins of Freddie’s cats.
Once more, I’m sure I’ve answered this, but almost all of Freddie’s felines were rescued and got from various cat shelters including the Blue Cross hospital in Westminster. Only one, Tiffany, had a certificate and many names. Mary bought her for Freddie and she and Oscar were the first of Freddie’s cats to live in Garden Lodge. They moved in even before Freddie. He sent them in before him, and once he found they were happy there, he finally moved himself in.

Helena wanted to know what Freddie’s favourite jewel was.
Freddie wasn’t a huge fan of jewellery, but he did have two great stones. When Elton John found out that Freddie was going to South Africa he told Freddie to buy diamonds. Freddie took up Elton’s suggestion and on one of his days off at the hotel a jeweller arrived with his brief case. It was opened and the man spread out a piece of cloth, then from various paper envelopes there appeared an amazing collection of diamonds. They were all colours and sizes. Freddie just sat there waving his arms and giggling, singing Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend. After checking them out he finally decided on two, one a large champagne colour and the other was described as cognac. The fact that they were the size of a small bird’s egg was neither here nor there. He brought them back to London, and after keeping them at home for a few days, sent them to the bank vault, and to my knowledge, never saw them again.

Ok, plans to make. I don’t know about all of you, but the days seem to be going quicker and quicker. Had a beautiful night at the opera last week and there are a few more musical evenings coming up. Look after yourselves until the next time.