so, I have made a list of people who were close to Queen, these people are frequently mentioned in fandom discourse and this is basically descriptions of them that might make it easier for new fans to understand older fans discourse and references. Bolded names are very important, but other than that they are not in any particular order. There is another part coming out tonight!
Jim was Freddie’s last long term relationship and stayed with him until his death. In 1990, a year before Freddie’s death, he found out he was also HIV positive, first he decided to not tell Freddie as he felt that he already had enough on his plate, but he eventually found out about the results. Jim didn’t die of aids though, he died of cancer in 2010.
Jim described himself as the polar opposite of Freddie. Freddie was flamboyance personified, while Jim was just his silent gardener and described himself as lacking in character. (though I get the impression that he was a very sweet man!)
His relationship with Mary Austin (Freddie’s ex girlfriend and later one of his closest friends) was good in the first few years of Freddie’s and Jim’s relationship. However, Freddie’s illness obviously damaged it as she had him evicted from Garden Lodge (Freddie and Jim’s house) shortly after Freddie’s funeral. The reason? who knows. Jim himself thought it was due to jealousy. Freddie left him with 500 000 £ and he left Mary with Garden Lodge and the rest of his money.
So, a lot of people have very different opinions about Mary. Mary actually dated Brian for a while, and it was he who introduced her to Freddie and the rest of the guys. Freddie asked her out and they eventually moved in together, and they lived together for seven years. Once again, just like Jim, Mary was very shy and quiet. Freddie obviously had a type! Freddie was very open about his love for Mary, as he said that she was the only person he ever loved. Their romantic relationship eventually ended when Freddie had been sneaking out to meet other men, so they broke up.
But they kept being close friends, she actually toured with Queen and there is a clip of her in the concert movie ”Queen in Budapest” where she is standing with Freddie and he’s practicing a hungarian song that he was going to perform during the concert.
Mary has done some things that makes her.... not so popular with the fandom. She snubbed Jim, and not long ago she decided to remove all of the flowers and cards and everything that fans leave at a particular spot in front of Garden Lodge. I admit, I prefer Jim over her though I try to remember that Freddie loved the both of them and I doubt he would have liked someone who trashtalked either of them.
Peter Freestone (”Phoebe”)
ok so Phoebe is one of my favourite bitches in the Queen sphere!! He was Freddie’s personal assistent and regularly spills the tea on queen and all the shit they got up to, also, like I’ve said before, he was the Mom Friend.
Freddie loved giving out nicknames, often female (though he called three different people in his catering staff ”not david”) he called himself Melina, Brian was Maggie, Roger was Liz and John Belicia, and so Peter was given the name ”Phoebe”. Like I said, he loves talking about Freddie and he has even got an ”ask phoebe” page on freddiemercury.com. basically he is a fandom protector and a reliable bitch
I really recommend reading his blog!
this is the kinda trivial shit he talks about and i am l i v i n g for it
So, Paul Prenter is generally regarded as a bad character and some blame him for Freddie catching HIV as he pretty much led Freddie into that life. I don’t know if you can blame all of that on him, but I still dislike him very much. He was Freddie’s personal manager, also his fuck buddy basically - and wingman. Freddie’s other friends did NOT like Prenter at all. Together they lived a very promiscuous and damaging life and - this is the worst part - he sold Freddie out to the press for 32 000£. He told them that Freddie had aids. Obviously, Freddie never forgave him. Prenter also had aids, and he died before Freddie. Basically, screw Paul Prenter.
Brian’s first wife. They were married from 1974 until 1988 and had three children together, Emily, Louisa and Jimmy (James). Their marriage ended brutally in 1988 as Brian had been meeting actress Anita Dobson and when it got out to the press it got really infected and as it was around the time Freddie’s health was getting real bad, all of that contributed to Brian becoming really depressed. suicidal even. On The Miracle from 1989 there is a track called Scandal, written by Bri that is about this divorce but also, it also fits in with Freddie’s situation at the time when the press were hounding him about the AIDS rumours.
An actress and also the love of Brian’s life. They met in 1988 and tried to keep their relationship secret at first but as I already said, it got out and their relationship got off to a rocky start.
A few years into their relationship, they were actually involved in yet another cheating scandal. Brian had been caught in an affair with his assistent (I think?) Julie Glover. Anita found racy texts adressed to Glover on his phone and even forwarded them to Glover’s husband. Anita was furious and made Brian choose between them both; he begged for Anita’s forgiveness and they got back together. Glover lost her marriage though. Since then, Brian seems to have learned to keep his dick in check but it is clear that women is a weakness for him.
Anita had described her relationship with his children as ”difficult”.
Roger’s second wife. They met on the set to one of his solo videos, in 1987. She also appeared in the LOVELY ”breakthru” video from The Miracle album (1989)
She also starred alongside Roger in the infamous Sex tape, that fans have searched for for yeeeaaars. We’re not likely to find it though, and I wouldn’t watch it even if I could.
She and Roger had three kids: Tiger Lily, Rufus (who is a drummer and tours with Queen) and Lola
Stay tuned for the next part coming out in an hour 🌝
