Queen’s Freddie Mercury’s most prized possessions go on display ahead of auction

More than 1,400 of Freddie Mercury’s personal items, including his flamboyant stage costumes, handwritten drafts of “Bohemian Rhapsody” and the baby grand piano he used to compose Queen’s greatest hits, are going on show in a free exhibition at Sotheby’s London ahead of their sale. The vast collection of the singer’s personal belongings, which had been left to Mercury’s close friend Mary Austin, had remained undisturbed in his west London mansion for 30 years since his death in 1991. Austin, 72, said in a BBC interview in April that she has decided to sell almost all the items to “close this very special chapter in my life” and “put my affairs in order.” Among the hundreds of Mercury’s personal treasures were his dazzling sequin catsuits, leather jackets and the lavish red cape and crown he wore on his last Queen performance in 1986, as well as previously unseen working drafts of hits “Don’t Stop Me Now,” “We Are the Champions” and ”Somebody to Love.“ The handwritten draft of “Bohemian Rhapsody” — which shows that Mercury experimented with naming the song “Mongolian Rhapsody” before crossing it out — is expected to fetch 800,000 to 1.2 million pounds ($1 million to $1.5 million). The star of the show, however, is Mercury’s beloved Yamaha baby grand piano, which is set to sell for 2 million to 3 million pounds ($2.5 million to $3.8 million). The piano survived several house moves, took center stage at his mansion, and was the heart of Mercury’s musical and personal story from 1975 until his death, auctioneers said Thursday. “Of all the objects that he had, this is the one that meant the most to him,” said Gabriel Heaton, a specialist at the auction house. SYLVIA HUI (Associated Press)