Latest news with #LesleyAnnJones
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Claim Freddie Mercury had secret daughter divides fans and friends
His performances defined an era, and his life story has been dissected in tell-all books as well as on the big screen. But now further revelations may open up an unknown chapter in the life of Freddie Mercury. The question of whether or not Mercury had a secret daughter, whom he told no one about and would now be 48-years-old, has divided fans and the closest people in his life. A forthcoming book by Lesley-Ann Jones tells of a woman known only as B, who claims that the woman is in fact the Queen frontman's daughter – conceived during a fling with the wife of a close friend in 1976. 'Freddie Mercury was and is my father,' she says in a handwritten letter. 'We had a very close and loving relationship from the moment I was born and throughout the final 15 years of his life. He adored me and was devoted to me.' Little is known about B other than her age and the fact she is a medical professional working in Europe. She claims Mercury entrusted her with 17 journals that cover the final years of his life, which Jones says are 'the closest thing to a Freddie Mercury autobiography that the world will ever know'. The claims, which first emerged in May and were apparently common knowledge among Mercury's inner circle, have been met with mounting pushback from some people who knew the singer best. When asked about B, the Queen guitarist Brian May said he wanted to remain 'neutral'. However, his wife, the former EastEnders star Anita Dobson, dismissed the claims as 'fake news'. Mary Austin, a close friend of the singer, also doubted whether Mercury would have kept the fact he had a daughter secret from his inner circle. 'Freddie had a glorious openness, and I cannot imagine he would have wanted to, or been able to, keep such a joyful event a secret, either from me or other people closest to him,' Austin told the Sunday Times. Austin inherited about half of an estimated £9m estate that Mercury left after the singer, who was diagnosed with Aids in 1987, died aged 45 of bronchial pneumonia in 1991. Mercury had relationships with men and women (including Austin) and described himself as bisexual. 'The truth is that I am simply not the guardian of such a secret,' said Austin. 'I've never known of any child, or of any diaries. If Freddie had indeed had a child without me knowing anything about it, that would be astonishing to me.' The woman referred to as B responded by saying she was 'devastated' by Austin's comments. Jones – whose book Love, Freddie will be published next month – defended the validity of the claims when they first emerged, saying that a DNA test had been conducted that supported the version of events presented in her Mercury biography. She also pointed to the lack of a vocal rejection of the claims by the remaining members of Queen as further evidence that the details in her book were true. 'What I would say is that the real inner circle – the other members of Queen and Freddie's sister – would have denied this if they could, weeks ago, when the story broke,' Jones said. 'They cannot because, as Freddie's daughter says, they know that it is true.' Jones, who has written a series of books about music's biggest names, has been talking up more revelations that appear in Love, Freddie – claiming she has been 'crafting a narrative that will overturn everything we thought we knew about him and his legacy'.
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
New book claims to reveal details of Freddie Mercury's secret daughter
His performances defined an era, and his life story has been dissected in tell-all books as well as on the big screen. But now further revelations may open up an unknown chapter in the life of Freddie Mercury. The question of whether or not Mercury had a secret daughter, whom he told no one about and would now be 48-years-old, has divided fans and the closest people in his life. A forthcoming book by Lesley-Ann Jones tells of a woman known only as B, who claims that the woman is in fact the Queen frontman's daughter – conceived during a fling with the wife of a close friend in 1976. 'Freddie Mercury was and is my father,' she states. 'We had a very close and loving relationship from the moment I was born and throughout the final 15 years of his life. He adored me and was devoted to me.' Little is known about B other than her age and the fact she is a medical professional working in Europe. She claims Mercury entrusted her with 17 journals that cover the final years of his life, which Jones says are 'the closest thing to a Freddie Mercury autobiography that the world will ever know'. But the claims, which first emerged in May and were apparently common knowledge in Mercury's inner circle, have been met with mounting pushback from some people who knew the singer best. When asked about B, the Queen guitarist Brian May said he wanted to remain 'neutral'. However, his wife, the former EastEnders star Anita Dobson, dismissed the claims as 'fake news'. Mary Austin, a close friend of the singer, also doubted whether Mercury would have kept the fact he had a daughter secret from his inner circle. 'Freddie had a glorious openness, and I cannot imagine he would have wanted to, or been able to, keep such a joyful event a secret, either from me or other people closest to him,' Austin told the Sunday Times. Austin inherited about half of an estimated £9m estate that Mercury left after being diagnosed with Aids in 1987. He died aged 45 of bronchial pneumonia in 1991. Mercury had relationships with men and women (including Austin) and described himself as bisexual. 'The truth is that I am simply not the guardian of such a secret,' said Austin. 'I've never known of any child, or of any diaries. If Freddie had indeed had a child without me knowing anything about it, that would be astonishing to me.' The woman referred to as B responded by saying she was 'devastated' by Austin's comments. Jones – whose book Love, Freddie will be published next month – defended the validity of the claims when they first emerged, saying that a DNA test had been conducted that supports the version of events presented in her new book. She also pointed to the lack of a vocal rejection of the claims by the remaining members of Queen as further evidence that the details in her book are true. 'What I would say is that the real inner circle – the other members of Queen and Freddie's sister – would have denied this if they could, weeks ago, when the story broke,' she said. 'They cannot because, as Freddie's daughter says, they know that it is true.' Jones, who has written a series of books about music's biggest names, has been talking up more revelations found in Love, Freddie – claiming she has been 'crafting a narrative that will overturn everything we thought we knew about him and his legacy'.
Telegraph
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Freddie Mercury's ‘secret daughter': I didn't want to share my Dad with the world
Freddie Mercury's 'secret daughter' has spoken for the first time about her father, revealing she did not want to share him 'with the whole world'. The woman, known as B, has told of her struggle following the singer's death as she was just a teenager at the time. She spoke on Friday ahead of the release of a new book, titled Love, Freddie, next month. In a statement, reported by the Daily Mail, she said: 'I didn't want to share my Dad with the whole world. 'After his death, I had to learn to live with the attacks against him, the misrepresentations of him, and with the feeling that my Dad now belonged to everyone. 'I cried and mourned my Dad, while fans all around the world mourned Freddie. When you are 15 years old. it's not easy. I had to become an adult without him, and live all the structuring moments and events without his support. 'For 30 years I had to build my life and family without him and accept that he wouldn't be there to share the happy moments with us. For 30 years, while the rest of the world was reinterpreting Mercury's life, his music and all that he had been, I needed to have my Dad just for me and my family. How could I have spoken before?' The book, written by author Lesley-Ann Jones, is based on 17 handwritten diaries that Freddie gave B three weeks before he died on November 24, 1991, due to health complications related to Aids. Queen fans were surprised on discovering that he had a daughter, who was conceived accidentally during a fling with the wife of a close friend in 1976, a year after Bohemian Rhapsody was a hit. Mercury's former lover and friend Mary Austin, who inherited around half of the singer's estimated £9 million estate following the star's death, is alleged to have said she was unaware of B's existence. In response, B said: 'I am devastated by Mary Austin's alleged response. For 34 years, the truth of Freddie's life has been distorted, twisted and rewritten, but she said nothing - with the exception of her comment about the movie Bohemian Rhapsody, which she called 'artistic licence'. 'Here, she has not yet read the book, yet she apparently makes this statement. I don't understand why.' Austin and Mercury met when they were 19 and 23, respectively, before getting engaged prior to the singer coming out as gay. 'He cherished me' In the book's opening chapter, there is a handwritten letter from Freddie's daughter which reads: 'Freddie Mercury was and is my father. We had a very close and loving relationship from the moment I was born and throughout the final 15 years of his life. 'He adored me and was devoted to me. The circumstances of my birth may seem, by most people's standards, unusual and even outrageous. That should come as no surprise. It never detracted from his commitment to love and look after me. He cherished me like a treasured possession.' Ann Jones said she was 'surprised' by Austin's response to the revelation, claiming that the book features 'only one voice: that of Freddie's daughter'. She added: 'The story is hers. The quotes are hers. Her source is the collection of 17 handwritten diaries that Freddie gave her three weeks before he died.'
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Freddie Mercury fans turn their ire on the author who revealed star's secret love child in bombshell book - but she's sticking to her guns ahead of its publication
Author Lesley-Ann Jones has come under attack from Queen 'loyalists' as she prepares to publish Love, Freddie – a bombshell book based on the diaries of Freddie Mercury given to her by his alleged secret daughter. Jones, filming a documentary about the book for Channel 5 in Switzerland this week, is sticking to her guns ahead of publication on September 5. However, it's understood that Mary Austin, the love of Freddie's life, is planning to deny she knew anything about his daughter in an interview with a Sunday newspaper. And criticism of Jones, including misogynistic smears, has been circulating on a WhatsApp group of former staffers, saying 'no one' in the 'inner circle' ever heard talk of a daughter. One former associate writes: 'I don't understand why he didn't leave his only child something in his will. 'I'm not saying it's a crock, but as it's the [SLUR DELETED] writing yet another book about a dead person, the facts are not looking good at the moment.' Similar derogatory comments have been made on social media. Peter Freestone, Mercury's live-in PA for 12 years up to his death in 1991, said this week: 'I never saw any diaries. I never saw any child.' He added: 'I'm not saying they don't exist... It was a surprise to me when I heard. Very much.' The 'real' inner circle, meanwhile, are staying tight-lipped. Brian May smiled but said not a word when I asked him about the book at a Live Aid 40th anniversary event recently. His wife Anita Dobson has previously said: 'I think there have always been rumours. The person to ask would be his sister, Kashmira. But even then, I think, sometimes if people keep secrets, they do really keep those secrets.' Which sounds like a hint she thinks the story is right. Dobson explained her husband wants to stay 'neutral'. 'He said: 'People were always saying all sorts of things about Freddie. Let's take it with a pinch of salt.'' So far the Queen estate, which represents all the band members and Freddie's sister, has not commented in any way. Jones told me: 'There are a lot of extremely nasty comments being made, and some people are trying to discredit the book. 'What I would say is that the real inner circle – the other members of Queen, and Freddie's sister – would have denied this if they could, weeks ago, when the story broke. ' They cannot because, as Freddie's daughter says, they know that it is true.' HER new book tells of a child – referred to only as 'B' – conceived accidentally during a fling with the wife of a close friend in 1976, a year after Bohemian Rhapsody was a hit. The revelation came as a shock to the singer's fans, who have long loved and accepted him as a gay man. Yet the legendary showman had a number of relationships with women, including Mary Austin, whom he met when she was 19 and he was 23, before he came out. She remained close to Freddie for the rest of his life. There was another, later, romance, in the early 1980s, with actress Barbara Valentin. But the liaison with B's mother was something Freddie reportedly kept top secret. In the book, there is a hand-written letter from Freddie's daughter in which she says: 'Freddie Mercury was and is my father. 'We had a very close and loving relationship from the moment I was born and throughout the final 15 years of his life. He adored me and was devoted to me.' Former child star with her eye on the prize - and Lily's hubby. Who could possibly induce anyone to cheat on Lily James? Step forward rising British actress Raffey Cassidy. The 23-year-old will play Millie, a young woman who rolls a hand grenade into the middle of an apparently happy marriage in the movie Photo Booth, which starts filming at the end of the summer, with Rupert Friend completing the love triangle. Millie gets pregnant after a one night stand with a man called Ben (Friend). Meanwhile, back at home, Ben's wife Jean (James) is struggling to have children. A performance artist who mines her own emotional difficulties for her art, Jean decides to invite the young woman to live with them. She offers to look after her financially…in exchange for the baby. Brother and sister writing team Lloyd and Spencer Harvey promise 'electric' performances from their three leads. Cassidy is that rare thing: a former child star who has made the transition to more mature roles. She played the young Snow White in Snow White And The Huntsman (2012) and also appeared in 2015's Tomorrowland with George Clooney. Three years ago she was cast in Noah Baumbach's satire White Noise alongside Adam Driver and Greta Gerwig. And last year she won a major role as Zsófia, the selectively mute niece of Adrien Brody's tortured architect in the Oscar-winning film The Brutalist. By George! He's after another Oscar And they're off! George Clooney has launched the Oscars 2026 campaigning with a long profile in Vanity Fair to plug forthcoming film Jay Kelly. Clooney plays a fading film star – and Adam Sandler his loyal manager – in the picture directed and co-written by Mr Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach. It will premiere in Venice at the end of this month and is already at the centre of a solid awards campaign in advance of its theatrical release in November. (After which it will stream on Netflix.) Clooney said of Sandler, best known for comedies, including Happy Gilmore 2, currently doing great numbers for the streamer: 'He's actually a really beautiful, wonderful actor.' Warming to his theme, he said Sandler's 'pay cheque' films – the 'big goofy comedies' – allowed him to do smaller, more artistic projects. 'When he does these other, beautiful, Uncut Gems kinds of movies, it reminds people that he's not just a good comedian.' Clooney, who already has two Oscars under his belt, weeps elegantly in Jay Kelly and by all accounts gives an awards-level performance of his own. In the meantime, what is the collective noun for films about fighting? Because there is a fracas incoming: Christy, starring 'Good Genes' Sydney Sweeney as boxer Christy Martin; The Smashing Machine, with Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson as wrestler Mark Kerr; and The Cut, starring Orlando Bloom. People were confidently predicting some Oscars attention for Sweeney, but that might now get lost in the noise about her American Eagle jeans ad. The Smashing Machine, though, which is an A24 movie and will also be in Venice, has people excited about Johnson and co-star Emily Blunt. Forget the fjords, I'm pining for Bath Monty Python star John Cleese, is hoping to buy a home in Bath, close to where he grew up. Cleese, 85, who insists he's 'surprisingly poor', has lived in Monaco in the past, and more recently in Nevis in the Caribbean, where there's no income tax. He said in April he'd gifted his £1.5 million flat in Chelsea to fourth wife, Jennifer Wade, 'to make her feel secure'. The pair are understood to spend most of their time in London. However, it seems they're house hunting in the West Country. Speaking at Clifton College, the £19,000-a-term Bristol private school he attended as a boy, Cleese said: 'Unquestionably, my home is the West Country. My wife and I are thinking very seriously of buying in Bath.' He added: 'When I look back at my time in were a lot of very nice people having peaceful, friendly lives and being nice to each other and behaving really pretty well. And how little of that there is around these days. 'It's an idea which has come from America, which is that if you are not either rich or powerful – or both – then somehow your life has been a failure. I think that is a terrible idea.' Cleese bought a flat in Bath's Royal Crescent in 2016, but it was back on the market in 2018, when he left the UK and settled in Nevis. He's been complaining of penury since his 2008 divorce from third wife, Alyce Faye Eichelberger. She reportedly got a settlement of $20million and Cleese said two years ago he was still paying it off.
Yahoo
28-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Sir Brian May doesn't believe claims that Queen bandmate Freddie Mercury had a secret lovechild
Sir Brian May doesn't believe that his Queen bandmate Freddie Mercury has a secret daughter. A new biography has sensationally claimed that the late music icon fathered a child following an affair with a close friend's wife in 1976 - with the revelation being kept a closely guarded secret amongst his inner circle - but Brian's wife Anita Dobson has revealed that the guitarist is unconvinced about the revelation. Recalling when she heard about the claims, Anita told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "I went, 'What?'. I thought, 'No?'. I said to Brian, 'Do you know about this?'. He said, 'Do you believe this?'. The former EastEnders actress thinks that Freddie - who passed away in 1991 from AIDS complications - was too big a star for the secret to be kept under wraps for so long. Anita, 76, said: "He's iconic. It seems inconceivable he would have a child with someone we don't know about. Where is she - step forward. If she exists." Biographer Lesley-Ann Jones, who has penned the book Love, Freddie, insists that she has DNA proof that the 48-year-old woman is the child of the Bohemian Rhapsody singer and claims that she has always known the identity of her famous father - even handing over 17 of his journals that were used in the writing of the biography. The book - which will be released in September - features a handwritten letter from the woman, known only as B. She wrote: "Freddie Mercury was and is my father. We had a very close and loving relationship from the moment I was born and throughout the final 15 years of his life. Those who have been aware of my existence kept his greatest secret out of loyalty." Jones has hit back at those doubting the biography's claims and insists that the necessary research was conducted before publication. The writer said: "To those 'demanding' to see proof of a DNA test, rest assured the requisite verification was obtained, legal teams have been involved." She added: "To those insisting Freddie's diaries were faked with AI, that his daughter 'doesn't exist': wait and see." Jones explained that her "instinct was to doubt everything" when she was first contacted by Freddie's daughter - who lives in Europe and works as a medical professional - but is certain that the woman is telling the truth. She told the Daily Mail newspaper: "My instinct was to doubt everything, but I am absolutely sure she is not a fantasist."
