BLOG 74

I hope everything is going well with your plans for Freddie For A Day. At this moment I’m not sure where I will be, waiting to find out. Make sure whatever you do, you enjoy yourself. It is after all a day of celebration, for Freddie’s birthday.

Emma wanted to know if I ever saw Freddie cry.
I have wracked my brains but cannot think of one occasion where I saw tears running down his face. There were many times where we had serious conversations and he was sad and on the other hand he would laugh, clutching his sides, but I never saw any tears. Even in pain, he would swear and curse, but not cry.

Marie asked if Freddie liked talent shows.
In Freddie’s time, the ‘talent show’ culture didn’t exist. Of course there were shows on TV, but they didn’t have the life changing capacity of the shows that are around today.

Eric wanted to know if Freddie ever injured himself performing.
The only time I remember Freddie being injured on stage was when he pushed himself too far during a show in Hanover and aggravated an old injury. Freddie had strained some ligaments in his knee during his time in Munich and spent some time in plaster. It was removed a little early so that he could film the video for It’s A Hard Life. He moved a bit awkwardly during the show and he felt a sharp pain in his knee. From that point on a masseur was part of the tour entourage.

Allesandro asked about Freddie’s ashes and funeral.
As far as I know, there is one person who knows the precise location of Freddie’s ashes, and that is how he wanted it to be. His funeral was kept as low key as possible for a world superstar. Freddie never spoke about his funeral at all while he was alive. As he said in an interview, he didn’t really care what happened after he died. It was kept to some of his close friends and family and the family outnumbered the friends by 4 to 1. The bank of grass opposite the entrance to the chapel was occupied by the world’s press so that they could report on Freddie’s last appearance in public.

Alex asked about the Zoroastrian priests at Freddie’s funeral.
This really follows on the last question. It wasn’t Freddie’s request that the priests were there. Basically, I thought it was only fair that Freddie’s parents had a say in the last arrangements for their son. They told me what they felt was right and I incorporated their requests into the plans for the funeral, the Zoroastrian priests included. This was one of the main reasons that so few of Freddie’s friends were there, it was a family occasion.

Andrew wanted to know about my feelings when I think about Garden Lodge.
I remember some of the great times that were had there. While Freddie was alive, it was the warmest, most welcoming home that I could wish for. It was decorated most beautifully, it was filled with great furniture and as Freddie said, it wasn’t a museum; it was a house to be lived in and enjoyed. For me, the minute Freddie passed away, it became just bricks and mortar, it lost the warm glow that Freddie imbued into it. With Freddie no longer there, it didn’t hold anything for me. When I left those few months later I took some wonderful memories with me.

Diego asked about Freddie’s relationship with his friends.
As I have said before, Freddie was the best friend anyone could wish to have. If any of his friends had a problem, Freddie was the first to be by their side, talking them through and generally being there for them. Freddie’s friends knew they could rely on him being there. Remember, Freddie had experienced much in his life and was able to talk about it and pass on any help to others.

Michael asked if DJs played Queen when Freddie entered a disco.
Very rarely. Most djs knew that if Freddie was in any particular bar or disco, he didn’t particularly want to draw attention to himself. The exception to this was the New York disco in Munich, where, whenever Freddie walked in accompanied by Barbara Valentin, the whole bar knew he had arrived. He was also friends with the dj, so didn’t mind when Queen was played.

Andrew wanted to know who filmed the Garden Lodge tapes that are on youtube.
Just about all of them were filmed by a friend of Joe called Tony. I don’t know how they got onto youtube as I had always believed they were Freddie’s and as such had remained in Garden Lodge. Obviously this isn’t the case.

Raihan asked who first told Freddie about his HIV/AIDS status.
I believe it was his doctor who told Freddie the sad news. Freddie had a biopsy taken on a mark in his hand. Freddie’s doctor tried to call Freddie, who just didn’t want to take the call. Eventually the doctor called Mary and told her he had to speak to Freddie urgently, so Mary then had to persuade Freddie to speak to his doctor. I’m sure Freddie had an idea what the doctor was going to say, so didn’t want to hear the diagnosis.

Everyone take care until the next one. Have fun!