There has been quite a lot going on in my life over the last few weeks, including a lovely visit to my friends at the Dutch Queen Day. In amongst all the events was a section regarding the 1.30 minutes trailer for the film, Bohemian Rhapsody, including the trailer we had a question and answer session that went on for nearly and hour and a half. There were some very interesting questions from both the ‘looking forward to it’ camp, and also from the doubters, and I was happy to hear that there will be some people who will now go and see the film, although previously they had no intention of doing so.
Freddie’s cats are still making a regular appearance on the emails.
In November 1991 there were six cats living in the house; Oscar, Delilah, Goliath, Miko, Romeo, and Lily. Mary did inherit all of them, but not all stayed in Garden Lodge. Oscar had finally had enough of all the younger ones, and he decided he would be happier living with a neighbour. Mary decided that five were too many for her to live with and found good homes for both of the youngest, Romeo and Lily. I did see Delilah on my last visit to Garden lodge in ‘93/’94 and she spent a couple of hours with her head resting on my thigh.
What Freddie was like at home, has been asked quite a few times.
Freddie’s Garden Lodge generally had a quiet atmosphere. It was his home, so while he had quite a few wonderful parties for anything up to 200 people, it was a place he felt secure in and a place where he didn’t have to guard anything he said or did. He could get up in the morning and put on a mismatching track suit, he could be silent if he wanted to, or come downstairs from his bedroom, full of life. Freddie loved laughing, so was almost always with people who could make him laugh. I remember him saying to me that sometimes he felt the place was like a museum, filled with all these wonderful pieces of furniture, crystal, works of art and antique carpets, but it never stopped him from buying more and showing the latest additions to the collection to everyone when they visited.
A few people have asked what happened to all of Freddie’s work from Ealing.
Freddie’s mother, Jer, looked after all of his drawings and clothing that Freddie created during his days at Ealing. She took great care of everything and much was on display at the original ‘Storm Troopers in Stilettos’ Exhibition a few years ago. Since then, the entire collection has passed into his sister Kashmir’s hands, and she is getting everything catalogued and making sure that it is being preserved.
Did Freddie play table tennis in later years?
As most people know Freddie played table tennis very well in his school days. I don’t know how long that carried on for, but I do remember that a table was set up just outside the back door, in the corridor, of the Musicland studio in Munich, and that Freddie played on it a few times. He tended to play tennis more in the later years, playing quite often in the rented house in Bel Air, and also on courts when he was on holiday in Ibiza.
There are quite a few questions on the subject of Christmas/birthday presents.
Freddie’s cats are still making a regular appearance on the emails.
In November 1991 there were six cats living in the house; Oscar, Delilah, Goliath, Miko, Romeo, and Lily. Mary did inherit all of them, but not all stayed in Garden Lodge. Oscar had finally had enough of all the younger ones, and he decided he would be happier living with a neighbour. Mary decided that five were too many for her to live with and found good homes for both of the youngest, Romeo and Lily. I did see Delilah on my last visit to Garden lodge in ‘93/’94 and she spent a couple of hours with her head resting on my thigh.
What Freddie was like at home, has been asked quite a few times.
Freddie’s Garden Lodge generally had a quiet atmosphere. It was his home, so while he had quite a few wonderful parties for anything up to 200 people, it was a place he felt secure in and a place where he didn’t have to guard anything he said or did. He could get up in the morning and put on a mismatching track suit, he could be silent if he wanted to, or come downstairs from his bedroom, full of life. Freddie loved laughing, so was almost always with people who could make him laugh. I remember him saying to me that sometimes he felt the place was like a museum, filled with all these wonderful pieces of furniture, crystal, works of art and antique carpets, but it never stopped him from buying more and showing the latest additions to the collection to everyone when they visited.
A few people have asked what happened to all of Freddie’s work from Ealing.
Freddie’s mother, Jer, looked after all of his drawings and clothing that Freddie created during his days at Ealing. She took great care of everything and much was on display at the original ‘Storm Troopers in Stilettos’ Exhibition a few years ago. Since then, the entire collection has passed into his sister Kashmir’s hands, and she is getting everything catalogued and making sure that it is being preserved.
Did Freddie play table tennis in later years?
As most people know Freddie played table tennis very well in his school days. I don’t know how long that carried on for, but I do remember that a table was set up just outside the back door, in the corridor, of the Musicland studio in Munich, and that Freddie played on it a few times. He tended to play tennis more in the later years, playing quite often in the rented house in Bel Air, and also on courts when he was on holiday in Ibiza.
There are quite a few questions on the subject of Christmas/birthday presents.
Freddie would always make time to go out and buy presents for his family and close friends. If it was for a birthday, he would have a general idea of what he wanted to get for that particular person. He always thought about what they would really appreciate and spent time looking for it. For Christmas, he would go to a particular shop, Cartier, Tiffany or Harrods and would buy about 15 gifts from one shop. I think he liked these places because they gave him the presents already wrapped with the contents on little stickers, and I never saw him spending time wrapping up parcels! These were always accompanied by a card that he had written in and signed, enclosing a large cheque.
What was Freddie Mercury really like?
I don’t know the number of times I have been asked that question. From my perspective I can say he was a very fair boss, he expected a person to give to their best ability and he required you to think through your actions before you rushed into something and create a mess, or cause un-needed problems... I knew what was expected of me and I did what he wanted. Freddie probably knew other peoples capabilities more than they did. In the end, to sum it up, I have said this before and I will stick by it, Freddie Mercury was the kindest, most generous, loyal friend, I could ever wish to have. If you were lucky enough to be his friend, he would do everything possible to take care of you.
Now I should get on and prepare for my four classes tomorrow and get ready to go on some more travels over the next week or two. Look after yourselves and I hope to meet a few of you over the next few weeks.