Veronica Deacon
A work in progress chronological collection of information about our dear hide-and-seek champion, Mrs Deacon. I don't claim this is fully correct & complete, but maybe it's still a useful overview. :)
father: Edmund Anton Tetzlaff, 1913-1990, born in north Poland (x, x)
mother: Catherine Mary Tetzlaff née Gould, 1926-2020, born in Kettering, UK (x, x)
parents got married in Kettering, UK in April 1948 (x, x)
older sister: Elizabeth A Tetzlaff, *1948 in Kettering, UK, born 4-6 months after the parent's wedding (x)
born on 11.02.1950 as Veronica Agnes Mary Tetzlaff in Sheffield, UK
probably has dark eyes, maybe brown, and probably brown hair (deduced from pictures)
younger brother: Henryk Antony Tetzlaff, 1952-1985 (x, x)
younger sister: Teresa C Tetzlaff, *1957 (x)
grew up in Sheffield in a harsh working-class region in a fairly poor family (x)
her father was a steel worker (see marriage certificate), her mother was probably a stay-at-home mother (deduced by the number of children and period of time)
parents were devout Carmelites; children were most likely raised religious/catholic (x)
“She’s a very normal, very quiet, devout Catholic. She didn’t wear any make-up and wore fairly plain clothes. She wasn’t into the glamorous life at all.” (Ruth Bullen)
interested in art, literature and schooling children (see below)
has a keen sense of art and enjoyed both painting and drawing (x)
became an aunt to her older sister's daughter Helen Louise, *1968 (x)
moved to Hammersmith, London, presumably around 1968, for her studies (x)
younger sister: Christina Caroline M Tetzlaff, *1969 (x)
studied to be a teacher in an all-woman class (x) of Maria Assumpta Teacher Training College until around 1971 (x) and probably already worked as teacher during the last year (deduced from the quote below)
after finishing, she worked as a nanny (x) and/or as primary school teacher (see quote from Hood below)
"During this period, I also met my current wife. Veronica was just out of college and teaching young children. Boy, we were different. Veronica was drawn to the arts, and loved poetry and paintings, whereas I was the stereotypical scientist." (John Deacon, 1986 in a German magazine, translated by me)
met John Deacon in a disco on 26.03.1971 (x, As It Began, x) and started dating him (x)
has "always" been a cigarette smoker (x)
kept on working as teacher at a primary school in London (see below, x)
fell pregnant with their first child while still being unmarried (deduced by the dates)
"All I knew that my first teacher, Miss Tetzlaff was leaving to get married. As a young child, I was devastated but sadly accepted that." (Kevid Hood on fanpop.com, x, x.)
married in Carmelite church in London on Kensington Church Street on 18.01.1975 during a very long wedding service (x, As It Began)
her bridesmaid was a woman named Christina Bolten (see marriage certificate)
took the surname Deacon (she's usually mentioned as Veronica Deacon, not Veronica Tetzlaff, e.g. in "Mercury And Me", and apparently Cameron once mentioned it in a stream)
their wedding reception was held at her flat (x)
moved in with her newlywed husband into his bedsit flat (x - surely John didn't live in the flat alone with the baby, and it makes sense she'd move in right after the wedding too)
"Veronica doesn't get particularly jealous about it." (John Deacon, talking about fans persueing him the way they do it with the other three Queen members, 1975/1976, x)
gave birth to their first son Robert John Deacon on 18.07.1975, whom they gave the nickname "frog" (x, x)
the song "You're My Best Friend", published as single on 18.06.1976, was written, at least partly, for her (x, x)
moved from their bedsit flat into the whole house (x), which was the reason why John had initially asked for an advance payment from Trident for (see "Queen: The Early Years", x), maybe in April 1976? (x)
was gifted a small car by her husband early in their marriage (see below)
"She was thrilled to bits with it. A lot would have bought something top of the range, but she did not come from money and was just happy to have a car.” (Ruth Bullen, talking about the gifted car.)
went on a week long vacation with her husband and the rest of the "Queen family" in Kauai, Hawaii, from 04.-11.04.1976 (x)
joined her husband regularly on tours with their children, from the mid/late 70s (deduced due to her work and Queen in 3-D), until their eldest child had to go to school, so Veronica probably stayed home then as well (x)
according to John, she was friends, or at least got along, with the other Queen wives/girlfriends, Chrissie, Dominique, and Mary (x)
“I´ve heard that it´s just like this also in Japan. We got lots of fan letters from Japan. They were not only special but also warm-hearted, using every device. Japanese fans are wonderful.” (Veronica, attending an Aerosmith party with her husband in 1976, translated, x.)
described as “refined lady with a pure heart like a girl” (Reporter at the Aerosmith party in 1976, same source as above)
might´ve been rushed to a hospital overseas while on tour for one birth, apparently in 1978, but the German newspaper got other parts of the story wrong, so it´s not very reliable (x)
gave birth to Michael William Deacon on 03.02.1978, who played in his own band for a while (x)
gave birth to Laura Christina Deacon on 25.06.1979, who's an artist/painter (x)
Veronica might've decided on the name Laura and John decided the second name, as he once said he liked the name Christine (x)
was the reason her children, or at least Robert, went to a catholic kindergarten (x)
joined her husband with their kids on the South America part of the The Game tour, starting on 28.02.1981 (x)
probably influenced that their children went to a catholic school (x)
went with her family to their Los Angeles house for Easter 1983 (x)
gave birth to Joshua Luke Deacon on 13.12.1983 who, according to John in 1998, was the keenest computer player in the Deacon family (x)
“It took her a few years to realise she could have practically anything she wanted. It was ages before she got a nanny to help with the children.” (Ruth Bullen)
was upset and/or sad that her famous husband could hardly be a normal dad to their children (see "Queen: The Early Years")
they likely had serious troubles in their marriage in the mid-80s, particularly during Queen's time in Munich and the Magic Tour (x)
"Veronica said when he came back off a tour he couldn't revert to being a normal person, playing with the kids, taking them to the park and things. She said it was non-stop [...]" (Ruth Bullen)
her brother Henryk died on 20.04.1985 (x)
joined her husband in Tokyo, Japan for a one-week vacation starting on 30.04.1985, before the rest of Queen followed (x, x, x)
attended her husband's birthday party on 23.08.1985 (see pictures below)
was backstage with her husband, but without their children, at the Live Aid concert on 13.07.1985 (see "Mercury and Me" by Jim Hutton)
apparently has relatives in New Zealand (x)
appears to like loop earrings, or at least wore them on several occasions (see pictures below)
joined her husband in attending the Chelsea Arts Ball on 11.10.1985 (deduced from pictures by deaky_land on IG)
went on a vacation in France with her husband, their children and Roger Taylor and his family in 1985 (x)
joined her husband in attenting the Fashion Aid party in the Royal Albert Hall on 05.11.1985 (see pictures below)
"I've got a nice house, a loving wife and a couple of kids - that'll do me!" (John Deacon, June 1986, x)
went on several vacations in Biarritz with her husband, and sometimes their children too, in the late 80s (x, x)
was backstage with their children at the Queen concert in Wembley Stadium, London in 1986 (x)
might have attended Roger Taylor's birthday party on 26.07.1986 (x)
in a radio interview on 29.05.1989 her husband mentioned the song "Veronica" by Elvis Costello & Paul McCartney as his favourite song, mainly because it's her name (x at ~28:10)
“[...] I have to admit that I’ve changed a lot over the years due to Veronica´s influence, but she still can’t stand any mathematics.” (John Deacon, 1986 in a German magazine)
her father Edmund died on 09.01.1990 (x)
considering her long love of art and their wealth, she might be an art collector (apparently Cameron once said she owns many paintings)
gave birth to Luke James Deacon on 05.12.1992 (x), who plays bass in his own band Kid Jupiter (see his Instagram)
joined her husband at the Crowday Ruins Concert on 18.09.1993 (x, see picture)
gave birth to Cameron Matthew Deacon on 07.11.1993 (x), who's autistic, bisexual and a Zumba instructor in training (x)
“She´s a lovely person, completely unpretentious. I’ve got the impression down the years that their children are the most important things to her.” (Ruth Bullen)
took the photographs for Steve Gregorys album “Bushfire” which was published in 1994, which featured John on bass on a few tracks (x)
probably is the one taking care of of their garden, including the maintenance of the trees (Wandsworth website)
in the late 90s there was an art studio built in their home, presumably for her (comments on this post, Wandsworth website)
went to "Party In The Park" in Hyde Park with her husband on 07.07.2002 (x)
"Veronica sort of marches in and takes control when she finds out what's going on. [...] I think his wife probably made him get over it. She's a very strong character." (Lesley-Ann Jones in the Podcast Planet Porky, talking about the rumours about a possible affair of John's around 2002.)
is a grandmother to at least four children, two from Robert and two from Michael (deduced from several of Cameron's posts)
owned a little dog named Saffy for at least seven years, during 2008-2016, but it's likely the dog lived longer than that (see Cameron's Facebook and Luke's Instagram)
was mentioned in the acknowledgements of Peter Hince's book, which was first published in 2011 (see "Queen Unseen")
is “totally cool with it” that her youngest son is bisexual (Cameron on Twitter, 2013) -> she can't be extremely conservative if she accepts his sexuality and would like to "see [him] with a catholic man" (Cameron on Twitter, 2015)
probably had an operation on her heart or a heart condition, presumably in 2015 (Cameron on Twitter)
probably wears glasses nowadays (deduced from pictures)
her mother Catherine died on 30.10.2020 (x)
would "walk over hot coals" for her children (Anna Deacon on Facebook, who generally speaks very positively about Veronica)
still very caring for her children, for example surprising them with cake they like or simply checking in on them (see Cameron and Luke Deacon's tweets)
still married to and living together with John Deacon (see Cameron's posts), and they still walk with their arms linked together <3
"For me, my wife is the best." (John Deacon, May 1984, x)
Pictures of Veronica!
This is a list of all known (to me) pictures of Veronica over the years, I apologize if I missed any or got anything wrong. There aren't any public pictures of Veronica in the 70s yet, but maybe we'll get lucky someday! The pictures below are in no particular order. I've not included images past 1997, in respect of their privacy.
1981 Queen's South America tour. There's a picture of her on an airplane, together with her two oldest children and Freddie Mercury.
1982 Queen's Hot Space tour. On April 18th, she's pictured at the Zurich airport, and on April 22/23rd at the hotel together with her family. (x)
1982 Queen's Hot Space party in early June. She's seen leaving the party together with her husband.
1984 Freddie Mercury's birthday on September 5th. It's not confirmed that it really is Veronica, but John is leaned onto a woman in a similar manner that he leaned on Veronica later on.
1985 John Deacon's birthday on August 23rd. There are two pictures of her at this party, in both of them she's pictured with her husband.
1985 Chelsea Arts Ball on October 11th. It's not confirmed that it really is Veronica, but in both pictures she's close to John, and her face and style looks similar to the confirmed pictures.
1985 Fashion Aid on November 5th. The two pictures of her aren't confirmed either, but the woman looks familiar and stands close to John.
1986 Queen's concert in Wembley Stadium on July 12. @growfasterfaster discovered her in the video footage, and it appears extremely likely that it really is Veronica. (x)
1993 Crowday Ruins Concert on September 18th. Veronica and John are pictured walking together at that concert, recognizable by their matching backstage passes.
past 1997 All in all 8 various private family pictures, ranging from Disneyland trips to weddings and fan meetings, during 2009 to around 2018.
A quick word from me: I doubt it's possible to provide 100% exact and reliable sources, especially with a person as private as her. Therefore, some of this is interpretation/speculation, and might not be true after all. 🔹If it makes you uncomfortable if I linked posts on your blog, let me know and I'll remove it asap!🔹 The recent video of them luckily isn't up on YT anymore, so obviously I can't provide a source for it.🔹In no way I intent to harm their family's privacy with this, all the info I found was/is public!🔹I'll *try* to update this post if there's anything new about her. This is meant as a work in progress, we'll see if I'm able to stick with it ;)
Special thanks to Lauren (@lickemagaindeaky), Kate (@warriorteam1924), El (@beydeaks) and Rachel (@eileen-crys) for your help and encouragement, thank you & ly!💙
& If you find more info about Mrs Deacon or know something to be wrong, please let me know so I can correct/include it! :)
