Items to be sold

QUEEN singer, Freddie Mer‐cury, who passed away in November 1991 will have 1,500 items sold at auction.

After his death, his home and contents were left to his best friend, Mary Austin and she has decided to put some of his possessions to auction.

Included in the sale are Fred‐die’s handwritten lyrics to the song ‘We are the champions’, the nine‐page document in‐cludes harmonies and chords and it’s expected to sell for be‐tween £200,000 and £300,000.

Another lyric sheet written in black biro contains the lyrics to ‘Killer Queen’ and this is ex‐pected to sell for between £50,000 and £70,000.

Mary Austin said “the lyrics were particularly difficult to part with, because they show, for me, the most beautiful side (of Freddie).”

The Queen vocalist and Mary Austin met in 1970. They moved in together and got en‐gaged. But then Freddie admit‐ted he was gay. However, this did not end the close friend‐ship and Mary helped to care for Freddie during his illness.

The collection will be sold by Sotheby’s, London in Septem‐ber, with some proceeds going to charity.