Freddie Mercury’s sister secretly spent £3 million at auction to buy back her late brother’s personal belongings from his former girlfriend Mary Austin.
Kashmira Bulsara, 73, made anonymous bids to purchase sentimental items that had been put up for sale by Austin at Sotheby’s in September 2023.
The Queen frontman’s sister reportedly did not want Austin to know she was the one bidding on the treasured memorabilia and according to reports, Bulsara was determined to keep the items in the family rather than see them sold to strangers.
Among the items Bulsara purchased was a Wurlitzer Model 850 jukebox for £406,400, as well as spending £139,700 on a waistcoat adorned with portraits of Freddie’s six cats, which he wore in the music video for “These Are The Days Of Our Lives” just months before his death.
The most expensive acquisition was a military-style jacket made for Freddie’s 39th birthday, costing £457,200, with other purchases including eight pages of draft lyrics for Queen’s hit “Killer Queen” for £279,400, a Daum Persimmons vase for £22,860, and a Nike sweatshirt for £40,640.
Bulsara reportedly attended a private viewing anonymously with her son Jamal Zook and her personal assistant to identify which items she wanted to retrieve.
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“Then, when it came to auction time, Kashmira’s PA went in person to Sotheby’s and was on the phone to Kashmira throughout,” a source told The Sun.
The family had reportedly “set aside a huge budget” for the purchases and were “very happy with the final figure” despite paying well above the estimated prices.
Mercury and Austin dated from 1969 until the late 1970s and were engaged before he came out as gay and despite ending their romantic relationship, they remained close friends until his death from AIDS-related pneumonia in 1991.
In a rare interview, Austin recalled their breakup: “He said, ‘I think I am bisexual.’ I told him: ‘I think you’re gay.’ And nothing else was said. We just hugged.”
“Kashmira was angry and upset to see so many of her beloved brother’s possessions become available for anyone to buy,” a source told The Sun.
The insider added: “Of course, Kashmira appreciates how adored Freddie was across the world, but she was saddened to think of some of his sentimental belongings not being with his loved ones.”
According to reports, the items held deep personal significance for the Mercury family and for Bulsara, it was important that these treasured mementoes remained with those who truly knew and loved the famed singer.
Austin previously sold more than 1,400 of Mercury’s belongings for a total of £12,172,290 at a Sotheby’s auction in September 2023.
The collection was exhibited for a month in “Freddie Mercury: A World of his Own”, attracting over 140,000 visitors.
Explaining her decision to sell, Austin told the BBC: “The time has come for me to take the difficult decision to close this very special chapter in my life. I need to put my affairs in order.”
She added: “I decided that it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to keep things back. If I was going to sell, I had to be brave and sell the lot.”
Austin also put Mercury’s Garden Lodge mansion in Kensington up for sale last year for £30 million, though it has not yet sold.
