Where is Mary Austin now? A look at Freddie Mercury's ex-fiancée today
Mary Austin is now living a private life in London after separating herself from most of Freddie Mercury's possessions. The Queen frontman considered her his most trusted friend even after their split, and left her a large portion of his multi-million-pound estate.
Source: Getty Images
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Key takeaways
- Mary Austin never became Freddie Mercury's wife on paper, but he referred to her as his common-law wife.
- She inherited about half of Freddie Mercury's estate, which she started selling in 2023.
- Today, Mary Austin avoids the spotlight while holding the greatest secrets in rock history regarding the location of Freddie's ashes.
Mary Austin's profile summary
Full name | Mary Georgina Austin |
Date of birth | March 6, 1951 |
Age | 74 years old (as of February 2026) |
Place of birth | Battersea, London, England |
Partners | Freddie Mercury (1970-1976) Piers Cameron (early 1990s) |
Husband | Nicholas Holdford (1998 – 2002) |
Children | Jamie and Richard |
Where is Mary Austin now?
Mary Austin is still alive as of February 2026 and is based in London, England. For over three decades, she resided at Garden Lodge, Freddie Mercury's 28-room mansion, before placing it on the market in early 2024.
She is also set to release her book, A Life in Lyrics, on September 1, 2026, through HarperCollins. The book features unpublished material from Mercury's private collection, which she has kept since the singer died in 1991.
Source: Original
Inside Freddie Mercury and Mary Austin's relationship
Freddie met Mary in 1970 at 24 through guitarist Sir Brian May. Austin was 19 and working in PR at Biba, a fashion boutique in West London.
They later started living together in a small apartment near Kensington Market, where Freddie co-owned a clothes stall with Queen drummer Roger Taylor. The legendary rock star asked Mary Austin to marry him on Christmas Day in 1973 and later dedicated the 1975 song, Love of My Life, to her.
Mary and Freddie called off their engagement in 1976 after the Queen frontman confessed his sexuality. The singer had initially told her he was bisexual, but she assured him that he was gay. Austin told The Daily Mail in 2013 that she was grateful Mercury had ended their physical relationship.
If he hadn't been such a decent human being and told me I wouldn't be here. If he had gone along living a bisexual life without telling me, I would have contracted AIDS and died.
Source: Getty Images
Mercury and Mary maintained a close friendship until he died
After their split, Freddie bought Mary Austin a nearby £300,000 flat. She worked for his management company and accompanied his band on tour. The singer said in a 1985 interview:
All my lovers asked me why they couldn't replace Mary, but it's simply impossible. The only friend I've got is Mary, and I don't want anybody else. To me, she was my common-law wife. To me, it was a marriage. We believe in each other, that's enough for me.
Mary was the first person Mercury told about his AIDS diagnosis in 1987. The singer hid his illness from the public until one day before his death on November 23, 1991. He passed away from bronchopneumonia due to AIDS at 45.
How much did Mary Austin inherit from Freddie Mercury?
The flamboyant rock star signed his will in September 1991 amid deteriorating health. He allocated half of his £36 million estate to Mary Austin, including royalties and his £20 million neo-Georgian mansion in Kensington and everything in it.
Mary told the Daily Mail that he urged him to place the home in a trust, but he wanted her to have it because he believed she would have been his wife had things "been different". The rest of Freddie Mercury's money was left to his parents, his sister Kashmira, and some of his friends.
Source: Getty Images
Did Mary go to Freddie's funeral?
Only 35 of Freddie Mercury's close family and friends attended the funeral, including Mary, Elton John, and Queen bandmates. The service was held on November 27, 1991, at the West London Crematorium. It was a traditional Zoroastrian ceremony conducted in the Avestan language by Parsi priests.
The singer instructed that his cremated remains be left to Mary. She buried Freddie's ashes two years after his death at a secret location that even his parents never knew about.
Mary Austin has sold most of Freddie Mercury's possessions
Freddie Mercury's ex-fiancée announced in April 2023 that she would be auctioning 1,500 of his personal items through Sotheby's, including handwritten lyrics, stage costumes, art, and musical instruments. She told BBC that she needed to put her affairs in order.
The time has come for me to take the difficult decision to close this very special chapter in my life... 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 retained personal gifts and photos they took together. In February 2024, she listed Garden Lodge for over £30 million and shared that it has been "the most glorious memory box" filled with warmth in every room. Freddie purchased the home in 1980.
Source: Getty Images
Did Mary Austin ever marry?
While a lot has happened to Mary Austin since Mercury's death, finding a forever partner is not one of them. She dated painter Piers Cameron after her breakup with the Queen lead singer, and they had two sons, Jamie in 1990 and Richard in 1992, but did not marry. Freddie was Richard's godfather.
After breaking up with Piers in the early 1990s, Austin married businessman Nick Holford in 1998, but the marriage ended five years later in 2002. She told The Daily Mail that Freddie Mercury was the true love of her life.
What happened to Jim Hutton after Freddie Mercury died?
Irish hairdresser Jim Hutton passed away from lung cancer on New Year's Day in 2010, just three days before his 61st birthday. He was Freddie's last partner, whom he met in 1985 at a gay club in London. He moved into the singer's Garden Lodge, where he lived until Mercury's death.
Hutton inherited £500,000 and a piece of land in his hometown of Co Carlow, Ireland, according to Irish Central. He published his memoir, Mercury and Me, in 1994.
Source: Instagram
Conclusion
Mary Austin is now focused on her quiet life after stepping back from the physical responsibility of caring for Freddie Mercury's estate. Her impact on the singer's life was captured in the 2018 biopic Bohemian Rhapsody.
READ MORE: Who is Robert Plant's partner now? From Maureen Wilson to today
Briefly.co.za highlighted facts about Robert Plant's love life. The Led Zeppelin frontman was married once to Maureen Wilson from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s.
At the height of Led Zeppelin's success in the 1970s, the English singer had several affairs with rock n roll groupies. Plant has four kids, including three with Maureen and one with his former sister-in-law, Shirley Wilson.
Source: Briefly News
