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Daily Mail
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Biographer who revealed Freddie Mercury had a secret daughter reassures fans bombshell is genuine
A biographer who made a bombshell revelation of Freddie Mercury 's secret daughter has reassured fans she is telling the truth. Bestselling author Lesley-Ann Jones has faced questions from some aficionados of the late singer and his band Queen after revealing the child's existence in a new book. The Mail told on Saturday how her new book called Love, Freddie, reveals the daughter was conceived accidentally during a fling with the wife of a close friend in 1976, a year after the group's most famous song Bohemian Rhapsody was first a hit. Her existence was known only to Mercury's closest circle, including his parents and sister, the rest of the band members and the love of his life Mary Austin. The girl, who is now 48 and lives in Europe, where she is a medical professional and also a mother – making Freddie a posthumous grandfather, according to the book. Jones shared the Mail story outlining the details by posting on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday evening: 'WORLD EXCLUSIVE: now it can be told.' But there has been an online backlash from some dubious over the new claims about Mercury, whose homosexuality was publicly confirmed following his death from bronchial pneumonia caused by Aids in 1991. Now the author has responded to sceptics with follow-up messages on the social media site, with one today addressed to 'those "demanding" to see proof of a DNA test, otherwise they won't believe it". She wrote: 'Please rest assured that the requisite verification was obtained, legal teams have been involved, but that such measures are private & not shared publicly. Thank you.' Mercury's secret daughter, who has not been named, is said to have been raised in a loving family but always knew that the Queen frontman, a frequent visitor, was her real father And the singer reportedly gave her before he died 17 volumes of detailed personal journals which she kept a secret and has now handed over to Jones, who had previously written three books about Mercury. They form the basis for the new book which is due to be published this September. Flamboyant showman Mercury is known to have had several relationships with women including Mary Austin, whom he met when she was 19 and he 24. The couple lived together and were engaged for a while, before Freddie came out as gay. Though they did not have children together, Mary went on to have two sons with another partner, while remaining close to Mercury for the rest of his life. He also had a relationship in the early 1980s with Austrian actress Barbara Valentin. Music writer Lesley-Ann Jones has responded on X, formerly Twitter, in response to Queen fans questioning her bombshell revelation about Freddie Mercury's secret daughter This third liaison with a woman – the mother of his love child – was, however, something Freddie kept a closely guarded secret, it has now been revealed. She is understood to have died years ago. The new book's opening chapter includes a handwritten letter from Freddie's daughter – identified only as 'B' – 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. 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.' Jones, who has also written books on David Bowie, John Lennon, Paul McCartney and the Rolling Stones, has told of first being approached by 'B' three years ago - and initially having concerns about her authenticity. The author said: 'My instinct was to doubt everything, but I am absolutely sure she is not a fantasist. 'No one could have faked all this. Why would she have worked with me for three-and-a half years, never demanding anything? 'In my experience of fantasists, and I've met a few, they seek instant gratification, publicity and reward. She has never asked for money. She does not want recognition. 'Both Freddie and her stepfather left her extremely wealthy. She was not provided for through Freddie's will, but by a private, legal arrangement, so no one will find her mentioned there.' The author is convinced that 'B' is true to her word, adding: 'Freddie Mercury was not who you think he was. He took his greatest secret to the grave. 'He was a hands-on, devoted dad. He described fatherhood as the fulfilment of his most cherished ambition and as the greatest blessing of his life.' Jones went on to say: 'His only child was conceived accidentally with the wife of one of his closest friends, while his friend was away on an extended business trip. For the Roman Catholic mother, abortion was out of the question. 'It was decided between the three adults that the child would live with her mother and her husband – the child's stepfather. Freddie would have his own rooms at each of their homes. 'The three close friends would raise the child together. Freddie visited and stayed with them frequently. He spoke to his daughter every day when he was away on tour or in the recording studio. 'She knew from toddlerhood which of the two men was her real father. Outside the unusual family, privacy and discretion were maintained to a degree that not even some members of Freddie's personal household had any idea that he had a child.' Mercury, who started writing the diaries in 1976 when first learning, filled each 192-page book with entries handwritten in ballpoint or rollerball pen. He describes his life story, beginning with his birth in Zanzibar in 1946, named Farrokh Bulsara, to Parsi-Indian parents. They also chronicle him attending a British-style boarding school in India from the age of eight to 16 and how the family was forced to flee Zanzibar in the 1964 revolution, before settling in Middlesex. Freddie's first entry in the original journal was made on Sunday, June 20, 1976, two days after Queen released their single – written by bassist John Deacon – You're My Best Friend from their 1975 album A Night at the Opera. He wrote his final entry in the last notebook on July 31 1991, as his health failed. Jones told the Mail: 'At a conservative estimate, Freddie wrote around 555,000 words in total in just under 15 years.' Shortly before his death aged 45 in Kensington, west London, on November 24 1991, he entrusted the collection of 17 volumes to his then 15-year-old daughter. Only her nanny, mother, stepfather and Mary Austin knew that he had gifted them to her. Jones said: 'He instructed her not to read the more graphic journals, eye-wateringly frank about his reckless lifestyle, until she reached her 25th birthday. 'She has stated that if anyone else tries to claim ownership of the diaries, she will burn them.' Jones and 'B' first met in 2022 in Montreux, Switzerland, a city in which Mercury had lived and recorded albums and where a bronze statue of him stands on a lakeside promenade. The writer recalled: 'She did not sell herself to me as Freddie's daughter. She did not even identify herself when she first contacted me. 'Having read my book, Love Of My Life [the Mercury biography Jones wrote in 2021], she emailed to thank me for it, but told me there were still many things I should know. 'She had assumed I could simply add new material to the existing book, and publish an updated edition. I explained that publishing doesn't work like that. 'She was not at all keen to begin with on me writing a new book – her concern all along has been privacy, which is of utmost importance to her. 'I spent weeks trying to guess her identity, and eventually worked it out. She admitted to it only when I put it to her. We agreed to work together, and I went to Montreux to meet her.' '"B" brought the diaries along to the meeting, and also other effects, such as photos, cards, notes and bank statements – to act as proof that she was who she claimed to be.' In another letter included in the book, 'B' explains her reasons for sharing Freddie's journals after 30 years, saying: 'Those who have been aware of my existence kept his greatest secret out of loyalty to Freddie. 'That I choose to reveal myself in my own midlife is my decision and mine alone. I have not, at any point, been coerced into doing this. 'He entrusted his collection of private notebooks to me, his only child and his next of kin, the written record of his private thoughts, memories and feelings about everything he had experienced. 'His gift to me was our secret. Although those who lived with him and shared his life knew of the existence of the notebooks, none of them knew, after his death, what had become of them. 'His family, fellow band members, closest friends, associates and management have had no idea until now that he gave them to me as a present.' 'Mary Austin – the wonderful woman who was to all intents and purposes his wife until death parted them – knew absolutely everything about him, including all his undisclosed secrets. 'Everyone else . . . they knew only what Freddie wanted them to know. Which wasn't much. Freddie was an intensely private man. He gave so few interviews that he was famous for it. 'I had read everything that Lesley-Ann Jones had ever written about my father when I wrote to her towards the end of 2021, with the intention of offering her the responsibility of sharing his true story. 'I had been meaning to contact her for years, having read so much of her work: not only about Freddie, but also about other artists. 'I was struck by her obvious pursuit of the truth, and by how closely she came to capturing 'the real Freddie'. 'Her book portrayed him more accurately than anything I had ever read. So much of what has been written and committed to film about him by so-called friends, lovers, employees and colleagues has been at best a gross distortion of the truth, at worst an exercise in exploitation. 'I revealed to her who my father was. I told her the truth about his childhood, his life, and everything that built the infant, the boy, the teenager, the young man, the grown man, the dad he was to me, the stage persona and the Mercury mask that he created. 'I explained to her how he compartmentalised his life, and of course talked at length about our precious time together. 'The life I live with my husband and our family in another country is intensely private. We want things to stay that way. 'We cherish our peaceful and anonymous life, and we want nothing to disturb it. Nobody needs to know who I am. 'I will have nothing more to say beyond what I have revealed in this book. There will be no further interviews other than those that I have given to Lesley-Ann. 'I owe it to my father to cherish privacy as one of the most precious privileges in life. 'As he himself said, it was the thing he regretted giving away so readily. The one thing he wished that he could get back.' Love, Freddie by Lesley-Ann Jones is available to pre-order here.
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Freddie Mercury's Alleged Child Revealed in New Biography
The post Freddie Mercury's Alleged Child Revealed in New Biography appeared first on Consequence. A woman claiming to be Freddie Mercury's secret daughter has come forward for the first time in a new biography about the legendary Queen singer. According to the upcoming book Love, Freddie by Lesley-Ann Jones, the child was conceived accidentally during an affair between Mercury and the wife of a close friend in 1976. Mercury remained involved in the child's life from the moment she was born until his death in 1991, though her existence was known only to members of his inner circle. The woman, who has chosen to identify herself as 'B,' is now 48 years old and works as a medical professional in Europe. Upon learning of the pregnancy, Mercury reportedly began chronicling his life story in a series of diaries. In total, he wrote 17 volumes, which he delivered to 'B' before his passing. 'B' shared the contents of these diaries with Jones for Love, Freddie. 'He entrusted his collection of private notebooks to me, his only child and his next of kin, the written record of his private thoughts, memories and feelings about everything he had experienced,' 'B' said in an interview with The Daily Mail. 'After more than three decades of lies, speculation and distortion, it is time to let Freddie speak,' she added. Jones said she first learned about 'B''s existence three years ago, and is 'absolutely sure she is not a fantasist.' 'No one could have faked all this. Why would she have worked with me for three and a half years, never demanding anything?' Popular Posts Billy Joel Diagnosed with Brain Disorder, Cancels All Upcoming Tour Dates Holy Shit, You Have to See Footage from System of a Down's Concert in Brazil Bruce Springsteen Gives Trump the Middle Finger with Another Defiant Concert Guns N' Roses Share Video of Axl Rose Repeatedly Falling Onstage: Watch The 30 Best Action Movie Stars of All Time, Ranked Neil Young to Trump: "I'm Not Scared of You. Neither Are the Rest of Us" Subscribe to Consequence's email digest and get the latest breaking news in music, film, and television, tour updates, access to exclusive giveaways, and more straight to your inbox.
The Sun
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Freddie Mercury's secret child revealed after Queen legend's fling with close friend's wife
FREDDIE Mercury's secret child has been revealed for the first time in 48 years. The Queen legend had a daughter in 1976 after a fling with a close friend's wife. 1 Now, she has broken her silence to reveal her existence, which was, until now, only ever known by Freddie's bandmates, parents, sister and his long-term partner Mary Austin. She has spoken out for the first time in a new book, Love, Freddie, written by biographer Lesley-Ann Jones. Before the iconic singer died of pneumonia caused by Aids in 1991, Freddie gave his daughter 17 volumes of his personal journals. She kept them a secret for years, but recently handed them over to the author to form the basis of the book that'll be released later this year. The woman, who was born in 1976, says she always knew the legendary singer was her dad - despite being raised by a loving family. She lives in Europe working as a medical professional with children of her own, making Freddie a post-humous granddad.
Daily Mail
12-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
My husband is an ER doctor... here are the things he would NEVER do
Medical professional have seen it all - and one emergency doctor has a definite list of things he would never do. Claire Edwards, who is based in Arkansas, took to TikTok to share the habits and activities her ER doctor husband would never participate in. She began by explaining one thing he doesn't care about is sodium content in foods and drinks - but said if she so much as 'looks' at acetonaphthone (an active ingredient in Tylenol) after drinking he 'drops down like a SWAT team member.' This is because the combination of drinking and acetonaphthone can lead to liver damage. 'Big no-no,' she shared. When Claire was pregnant, she said her husband wasn't fussed about her eating deli meats - but instead cared a lot about her folic acid intake. 'When I'm not pregnant he calls my vitamin regiment "expensive pee,"' she said indignantly, adding he claims you 'pee it all out.' Claire's husband also heavily advises parents to keep glitter away from babies and toddlers, because if they get it in their eyes it's hard to get out. According to the doctor, he can 'sense' when his wife has been using nasal spray for more than two days, which he also deems a 'big no no,' due to it becoming ineffective is overused. For anyone taking metabolism-boosting medication, Claire's husband swears it's 'just a myth,' and there's no real way to measure metabolism. He also advised to take the full course of prescribed antibiotics - even after feeling better - and keeping a close eye on all dogs around children. 'Kids be getting attacked by dogs a lot,' she shared. 'He doesn't really care about trampolines,' Claire shared, adding he sees 'more injuries from fish hooks.' While he encourages trampoline use, his easy-going attitude doesn't extend to everything. 'He's hypervigilant about doors, and when the kids are playing around the door - so many slammed fingers in the ER [and] deglovings,' she adds. Surprisingly, he isn't focused on hydration goals - instead drinking only when he is thirsty. 'We will never, ever, co-sleep with a baby under one year,' Claire continued. His other no-nos include not wearing a mask to apply spray tan solution and swinging kids around. But although there are plenty of things that her husband doesn't like, Claire's husband swears by using Vaseline on wounds and is also okay with her taking melatonin every night before bed. Users chimed in with their thoughts over the list. 'I fear I know nothing about health…,' one user joked. 'So an ER doctor is going to care about different things than a long term care doctor for sure. But there are still some valuable lessons to avoid ER visits!' another advised. 'I'm an ER resident and 100000 percent feel the same hahahah. Heavy on the sharpish objects thing. People think I'm nutssss but I'm not letting my kid walk around with anything remotely sharp,' chimed in someone else.
CNA
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CNA
This home in Singapore puts the spotlight on the owner's extensive art collection
It was with delight that I encountered an artwork by local artist Dawn Ng the moment I stepped into this inter-terrace house. The archival pigment print Some Will Fall In Love With Life And Drink It From A Fountain That Is Pouring Like An Avalanche Coming Down The Mountain from her Clocks series offers a Technicolor punch to a white wall. Is it a rainbow mountain or a coloured-in pebble, writ large? The artwork itself is enigmatic but what strikes me more is the insouciant juxtaposition of the chromatic picture with colourful baskets atop an antique timber cabinet as if to say: Art, like a piece of furniture or even tableware, should be enjoyed without inhibition in a home. The home in question belongs to a 40-something medical professional who prefers to be unnamed. Art is her passion and here in this dwelling designed by Wu Yen Yen, the founder of Genome Architects, she can finally display many pieces that had for a time been stored away. Both client and architect were secondary school classmates and so working together on the house was casual and inhibited. 'I sat next to her in class! It was a fun collaboration. It's my first time building a house, but Yen Yen knew what I wanted and made the process easy,' said the homeowner, who had grown up in Serangoon, and sought to build a house here. The brief? To design a three-storey house to enjoy her art collection and pets in, and to future-proof it for her parents to eventually consider moving in to live with her, shared Wu. The pets are two cats that happily roam this spacious abode. The parents have not moved in yet even at the request of their filial daughter but after visiting the home, they are giving it serious contemplation. The art is a vital part of the narrative. The homeowner began collecting about 20 years ago, starting with Australian Aboriginal paintings and textiles. 'I was always drawn to ethnic and tribal designs and crafts, as well as contemporary sculptural and 3D pieces,' she explained, adding that she usually sources from local galleries and art fairs. Not surprisingly, gallery owners have become close acquaintances. 'Friends like Stephanie Fong from FOST Gallery and Richard Koh from Richard Ho Fine Art (RKFA) came by and gave suggestions on how to display some of the pieces,' said the homeowner. One such advice was the placement of Kwodrent's Arrangement in Monochrome installation next to the staircase. Being at eye level, one can come up close to scrutinise the acrylic polypropylene loop pins and polyamide cable ties 'bouquets'. 'The art installer also gave great ideas on where to hang certain works,' said the homeowner. 'I also wanted to display most of the bigger art works because I had limited storage space.' The house is a perfect foil for the art without pandering to the white cube art gallery typology. It is 'art-in-house' in the manner of mixing the elemental and prosaic, such as an abstract piece by Indonesian artist Syagini Ratna Wulan above the television. But Wu's architecture also makes this project 'house-as-art'. Firstly, the building looks nothing like its neighbours – a Spanish-style, terracotta roof and vanilla-walled building on one side, and an uncharacteristic white box on the other. Its facade is a considered jumble of features not typically associated with domestic architecture, particularly a two-storey, arched brick surface with arched screen doors and a three-storey glass curved wall that fronts a spiral staircase. The former is stoic, suggestive of ecclesiastical structures and blocks out the sun; the latter is fluid, transparent and lets in copious daylight. The pairing is unorthodox but then again, as Wu explains, the homeowner was most happy to explore unexpected materials, forms and colours. 'I've always liked brickwork, geometry and pattern, clean lines and quirky designs,' she said. 'I told Yen Yen that I wanted a house with good natural light, is well crafted and easy to clean. I also wanted a spiral staircase, and she delivered!' Wu approached the design of the outside and inside of the dwelling differently. 'Externally, the vaulted roof, which continues into the attic, the brick wall and screen, and the circular glass staircase, establishes a strong visual identity in its play of formal composition, depth and tactility,' she said. In contrast, distinct volumes and voids in clean, solid, neutral colours come together to create a 'quiet' three-storey interior, where art can be meaningfully displayed throughout, and the inhabitants can feel peaceful. Apart from many white surfaces, a colour-block of moss green on the first storey frames the entrance door, and hides the powder room door and a foldaway staircase to a mezzanine-cum-store room. It extends to define the kitchen joinery at the rear of the house where full-length glass doors open to the backyard. There is terrazzo too (cladding the pantry counter on the second storey), and metal framing the fenestration. Inside the house, white metal mesh is used for the balustrades and flooring at parts. 'They are expressed as lightweight and porous so that the connective areas are not visually broken up,' Wu highlighted. This is also genius in enhancing light and airflow through the narrow section, and allowing the artwork to be seen from the different levels. Along the left party wall, Wu has designed parts of the house to be entirely see-through from the front to rear, as well as from the first storey up to the attic level where the homeowner has her bedroom and an art storeroom. This wall is where the homeowner mounts her largest pieces: Yeoh Choo Kuan's Sun Rays Through the Clouds, Sabri Idrus' Flux, Wayan Novi's Tropical Happiness #2 and Khairulddin Wahab's In the Margins. She chose to place these colourful pieces facing her parents' room. They become the view through large swivel doors that double as canvases with art hook incorporated into them. These doors are part of a future-proofing strategy, explained Wu. Inside the parents' large en-suite bedroom are sliding doors that provide the option of creating two adjoining private rooms, connected to a potential caregiver's room toward the front of the house. The second storey and attic have open spaces that overlook the tall void like internal terraces. Here, cabinets exhibit the homeowner's other curiosities, such as an amazing collection of baskets collected from travels, auctions, thrift stores and flea markets. 'I've always found weaving to be a fascinating craft, as it requires significant mathematical skills and a great memory,' said the homeowner. Her dogged passion saw her hunting down Werregue baskets woven by local indigenous communities of Colombia where she travelled to a few years ago. 'The weaving technique was unlike any I had seen. I spent the entire trip looking out for them and luckily, found some on the last day,' she shared. Sometimes, the pieces come to her in star-matched ways, as she recounted: 'One of the first baskets I collected, which is still one of my favourites, is the huge Lombok basket that I got from the previous tenant of a black-and-white rental home in the Seletar airbase. I had always wanted one and it came together with the first place I stayed on my own!' On the third storey is another wondrous collection displayed on open shelves, of Isan betal nut boxes that the homeowner purchased over the years from a good friend who runs Isan Gallery in Singapore. 'I generally gravitate towards geometric designs and I like how some of the boxes have seemingly 'modern' motifs but are actually more than 50 years old.' Wu highlighted that while the house was designed to display art, it was also meant to be functional. For example, the front elevation screens shield from the southwest-facing sunlight. She used solar simulation to inform some of her design decisions, such as where to place a triple-volume space (the front of the house) and windows to mitigate stack effect, enhance air movement, and frame views. Being a transitional space, the spiral staircase was also placed here as a solar buffer. 'We have designed this circular staircase to be as lightweight as possible, so that it is a see-through sculptural form that is backlit from the inside while still letting in abundant indirect natural light,' Wu elaborated on the design. The curved windows at the front next to the spiral staircase can be slid open to help create airy interiors. This is a crazy detail, I commented as I observed the curved sliding tracks. Wu agreed that it was difficult to both design and construct. 'We also overlapped glass pieces at the higher areas so that the stairwell can be constantly ventilated passively. Considering the steps, landings, material sizes, dimensional tolerances and need for structural rigidity, working with curved glass, curved steel and a curved staircase.' On how the house has met her expectations, the homeowner commented: 'It has a lot of natural light and great volumes of space, which give greater visual impact to the artwork. Friends have remarked that the house has good curb appeal, an interesting internal layout and the spiral staircase gets great reviews!' With more space for her art, she would love to add 'a sculpture by Kim Lim, an ecriture by Park Seo Bo and a basket by Jeremy Frey'. So far, none of the artists whose work she has in her home have visited but I would like to think they would be more than happy to pay a visit and see their art bringing joy to both the home and homeowner.
