{"id":5818,"date":"2025-04-23T10:35:01","date_gmt":"2025-04-23T10:35:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/?p=5818"},"modified":"2025-04-24T18:26:53","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T18:26:53","slug":"freddie-mercurys-sister-spent-3000000-to-get-back-singers-memorabilia-sold-by-his-ex","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/23\/freddie-mercurys-sister-spent-3000000-to-get-back-singers-memorabilia-sold-by-his-ex\/","title":{"rendered":"Freddie Mercury\u2019s sister \u2018spent \u00a33,000,000 to get back singer\u2019s memorabilia\u2019 sold by his ex"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\"\"\t<\/div>
Freddie Mercury’s sister ‘spent \u00a33,000,000 trying to get his memorabilia back’ (Pictures: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Freddie Mercury<\/a>\u2019s sister reportedly spent \u00a33,000,000 to secure his belongings that were put up for auction by his ex.<\/p>\n

After being diagnosed with AIDS in 1987, the lead singer of rock band Queen<\/a> died from complications from the disease aged 45 in 1991.<\/p>\n

In the early 1970s Mercury \u2013 born Farrokh Bulsara \u2013 had a long-term relationship with Mary Austin<\/a>, whom he\u2019d met a year before the band formed.<\/p>\n

The couple lived together for several years <\/a>however split after he came out as gay.<\/p>\n

But they remained friends until his death. In his will Mercury left his London home to Austin after telling her: \u2018You would have been my wife, and it would have been yours anyway.\u2019<\/p>\n

In 2023 Austin sold a selection of Mercury\u2019s items, part of the Freddie Mercury: A World of His Own auction by Sotheby\u2019s<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"UNITED\t<\/div>
The lead singe of Queen died in 1991 (Picture: Phil Dent\/ Redferns)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n
\n\t\t\"UNITED\t<\/div>
He left half of his estate to ex-girlfriend and close friend Mary Austin (Picture: Pete Still\/ Redferns)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

More than 140,000 visitors attended a pre-sales exhibition, with 41,800 bids across six sessions and buyers from more than 50 different countries.<\/p>\n

At the time Austin said she needed to \u2018put my affairs in order\u2019, eventually selling 1,406 lots for a total of \u00a340million.<\/p>\n

However, it\u2019s now emerged Mercury\u2019s sister Kashmira Bulsara spent millions trying to secure some of her brother\u2019s belongings.<\/p>\n

She is said to have been devastated seeing the items up for sale and was prepared to pay over the odds to keep them in the family.<\/p>\n

However, The Sun<\/a> has reported Bulsara didn\u2019t want Austin to know she was bidding, doing so anonymously with her son Jamal Zook.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"Singer\t<\/div>
The pair remained very close up until his death (Picture: Dave Hogan\/ Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n
\n\t\t\"LONDON,\t<\/div>
However his sister Kashmira Bulsara was ‘angry and upset’ to see his items put up for auction (Picture: Lia Toby\/ Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018Kashmira was angry and upset to see so many of her beloved brother\u2019s possessions become available for anyone to buy,\u2019 a source told the publication.<\/p>\n

\u2018So she went for a private viewing, anonymously, with Jamal and her PA before the auction to see which bits she wanted to try to get.<\/p>\n

\u2018Then when it came to auction time, Kashmira\u2019s PA went in-person to Sotheby\u2019s and was on the phone to Kashmira throughout. Kashmira watched online and told her PA how much to bid for each item.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018They had set aside a huge budget so were actually very happy with the final figure laid out, despite paying well over the estimated price for each one,\u2019 they added.<\/p>\n

The source went on to share while Mercury\u2019s sister appreciated how adored he was around the world, she was \u2018saddened to think of some of his sentimental belongings not being with his loved ones\u2019.<\/p>\n

Some of the items the 73-year-old snapped up included a Wurlitzer Model 850 jukebox for \u00a3406,400, and a waistcoat with portraits of Freddie\u2019s six cats on which went for \u00a3139,700.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"LONDON,\t<\/div>
An Sotheby’s auction in 2023 saw Austin earn \u00a340 million (Picture: Tristan Fewings\/ Getty Images for Sotheby’s)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\n\t\t\"LONDON,\t<\/div>
Mercury’s sister spent \u00a33 million securing items including a 1941 illuminated Wurlitzer jukebox (Picture: Wiktor Szymanowicz\/ Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A military-style jacket made for his 39th birthday was her most expensive purchase, at \u00a3457,200.<\/p>\n

She also purchased eight pages of draft lyrics of Queen\u2019s 1974 hit Killer Queen for \u00a3279,400.<\/p>\n

After the auction, Austin also donated some of the proceeds to the Mercury Phoenix Trust \u2014 an Aids charity set up by Freddie\u2019s Queen bandmates and their manager Jim Beach \u2014 and the Elton John Aids Foundation.<\/p>\n

\u2018The time has come for me to take the difficult decision to close this very special chapter in my life,\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n

\u2018I decided that it wouldn\u2019t be appropriate for me to keep things back. If I was going to sell, I had to be brave and sell the lot.\u2019<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\"Roger\t<\/div>
Before his death Mercury referred to Austin as ‘the love of his life’ (Picture: Richard E. Aaron\/ Redferns)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Before his death, Mercury would refer to Austin as \u2018the love of his life\u2019, once calling her his only true friend.<\/p>\n

In a 1985 interview, he said: \u2018All my lovers asked me why they couldn’t replace Mary, but it’s simply impossible. The only friend I’ve got is Mary, and I don’t want anybody else. To me, she was my common-law wife. To me, it was a marriage. We believe in each other; that’s enough for me.\u2019<\/p>\n

Queen\u2019s 1975 song Love Of My Life was written by Mercury as a tribute to Austin, who also helped care for him during his illness.<\/p>\n

He left her half of his estate in his will, as well as his Garden Lodge mansion in Kensington, West London \u2013 which she put on the market last year for \u00a330million.<\/p>\n

Got a story?<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk<\/a> entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff<\/a> page – we\u2019d love to hear from you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Freddie Mercury’s sister ‘spent \u00a33,000,000 trying to get his memorabilia back’ (Pictures: Getty) Freddie Mercury\u2019s sister reportedly spent \u00a33,000,000 to secure his belongings that were put up for auction by his ex. After being diagnosed with AIDS in 1987, the lead singer of rock band Queen died from complications from the disease aged 45 in 1991. In the early 1970s Mercury \u2013 born Farrokh Bulsara \u2013 had a long-term relationship with Mary Austin, whom he\u2019d met a year before the … Continue reading “Freddie Mercury\u2019s sister \u2018spent \u00a33,000,000 to get back singer\u2019s memorabilia\u2019 sold by his ex”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":506,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5818"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5818"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5818\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5828,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5818\/revisions\/5828"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}