Treasures collected over a lifetime by legendary Queen frontman Freddie Mercury will be sold at auction after spending the last 30 years locked away behind the doors of his west London home.
Among the objects going under the hammer in six separate sales at Sotheby’s are a crown he wore on Queen’s final tour, valued at £80,000 and his handwritten lyrics to the band’s hit We are The Champions which are expected to fetch £300,000.
Among the quirkier deeply personal objects are a small Tiffany & Co. silver moustache comb, valued at £600, sketchbooks filled with drawings of his home, valued at £3,000 and his bedside Bakelite phone expected to make a similar amount.
Also going under the hammer is his favourite waistcoat, worn in the video for These Are The Days Of Our Lives, which features silk panels hand painted with portraits of his six cats and could sell for £7,000.
Mercury, who died of complications form AIDS in 1991, left his Kensington home Garden Lodge and its contents to one of his oldest friends Mary Austin who has decided to sell.
Austin, who met Mercury before Queen were formed and helped nurse him through his final illness, said: “For many years now, I have had the joy and privilege of living surrounded by all the wonderful things that Freddie sought out and so loved.
“But the years have passed, and the time has come for me to take the difficult decision to close this very special chapter in my life.
“It was important to me to do this in a way that I felt Freddie would have loved, and there was nothing he loved more than an auction.
“Freddie was an incredible and intelligent collector who showed us that there is beauty and fun and conversation to be found in everything; I hope this will be an opportunity to share all the many facets of Freddie, both public and private, and for the world to understand more about, and celebrate, his unique and beautiful spirit.”
More than 1,500 objects from the house will go on show at Sotheby’s in London before the sale opens on September 6.
Among them will be artworks from Mercury’s private collection including a watercolour given to him by fellow star Sir Elton John.
A portion of the proceeds of the sale , currently estimated to make around £6 million, will be shared between the Mercury Phoenix Trust and the Elton John Aids Foundation.
