WAITING FOR THE HAMMER TO FALL FREDDIE MERCURY QUEEN STAR'S MAJESTIC PRIVATE COLLECTION GOES UP FOR AUCTION

Freddie Mercury was a dazzling showman, an accomplished songwriter and one of the most significant figures in British culture in the 20th century

He also had an eye for beauty and a passion for art, all of which is revealed in a fascinating exhibition of his vast and eclectic private collection that opened last week.

The lavish contents of his beloved home, Garden Lodge in Kensington, where the Queen frontman lived when in London, have gone on display for the first time at Sotheby’s auction house ahead of being sold next month, when they are expected to fetch between £7m and £11m. The auction’s centrepiece alone, the Yamaha baby grand piano on which he composed hits including Bohemian Rhapsody, could sell for £3m.

“I like to be surrounded by splendid things,” Freddie once said. “I want to lead the Victorian life, surrounded by exquisite clutter.”

He was a man true to his word. Among the 1,500 items in Freddie Mercury: A World of His Own, are Victorian oil paintings and prints by some of the world’s greatest artists, 19th-century French cabinets, Fabergé clocks, antique glassware and art nouveau lamps.

CROWNING GLORY 

There are also his spectacular stage costumes, some of which are works of art and could be the most popular items in the sale.

“Freddie always said: ‘I want to be seen at the back. If people have paid to see me, they’ve got to see me on stage,’ and you can really see that with some of the outfits. They are like beacons,” says Sotheby’s senior director David Macdonald, who curated the exhibition and is overseeing the auction. “He’d engage with the designers and talk to them about how he saw things. He’d also embroider himself.”