Okay guys, when I am talking about quotes I always try to give the source. I couldn't find any proper source for "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.". The articles which use this quote either show '77 People Magazine as a reference or '85 interview with David WIgg.
I looked at '77 People Magazine interview and not even a single word on this quote was mentioned there. (https://queenarchives.com/qa/12-05-1977-people-magazine/)
I checked '85 interview and I only found "At the moment the only friend I've got is Mary. I don't want anybody else" part on that interview.
I also found "All my lovers ask me why they can't replace her, but it's simply impossible." from Queenarchives, it was from a unknown interview in 1985.
I didn't find anything about common-law wife. Do you know the exact source of it? And it is obvious that the whole quote itself is fake because he didn't say all those things at the same time. He also said that he is not a marrying type and "I can go my own way and she can to hers.". And he also said "Ours is pure friendship.". So why he would say sth like common-law wife? Well maybe he did but I cannot find where. Can you verify?
The common-law wife quote certainly appears in either or both "Queen: The New Visual Documentary" (Ken Dean, Omnibus Press, England, 1992) or "Queen: These are the days of our lives The essential Queen Biography" (Stephen Rider, Sanctuary Publishing, 1993).
What their sources were for this I have no idea, whether it was an article in the press that was elaborated on by the editor, or whether it was something Freddie actually said, but it definitely appears in one or both of these books. That's the only time I've seen it in print.
miraclesteinway, thank you for sources, I didn't read those but I also saw exact quote in "Somebody To Love: The Life, Death and Legacy of Freddie Mercury" and "Freddie Mercury: A Life, In His Own Words". "Somebody To Love" showed "Freddie Mercury: A Life, In His Own Words" as reference for the quote. I also read something like "If everything went normal, we would got married" (I don't remember where), I don't know if it was paraphrased from that kind of quote, or it was something Freddie actualy said. I am wondering the real source because I'd like to know from where Freddie came to say this.
Green_Room, I agree, especially interviewing with British press, he generally mentioned Mary when his romantic life was asked. I don't remember anything about Mary in press after 1986. It seems like his relationship with Mary still makes Freddie and Queen more "likeable" or "intriguing" for some new fans, maybe this is why I'm seeing this quote in anywhere related to Queen lately.
Platonic love between a gay man and a woman is tricky it’s not a easy club to belong too. She obviously loved him he loved her but not in the same sense she loved him.This did cause her heart break it would have been easier if he would’ve let her go but he needed her for the press. Thank God Gay men don’t need women for that any longer..The closeness you share between the two of you goes beyond anything physical it’s more of a emotional bond to one another that can be a very special one and healthy. But many times the woman can’t control her emotions and well falls for the man and you can’t help what your heart wants.Thats what happened with Mary. That rarely happens but the positive side to that you don’t fall for all your Gay guy friends it’s a once in a lifetime occurance. That’s my take on their relationship.
Green Room, It’s sad but Queen management still has a lot of the influence on what is released about Freddie even after his death. Even though being Gay is accepted today they still want every new generation to believe he was briefly bisexual and the love of his life was Mary Austin.They discredit anything or try to tear down anything that proves other wise.Why do you think these books are coming out one by Rudi his record producer that Queen supports and another by a Queen photographer Neil Preston that Queen producer supports all have loads of photography with Freddy and Mary Austin in them.
CHEVYMAN, I agree with you totally. I am actually always hesitated to put my thoughts about this topic on words because whenever I do it, people always start an arguement with love of his life thing and always mention about Freddie’s quotes and will. Mary’s interview after Freddie’s death clearly explains what happened with Mary, she was not over him. And people are so blind to see what it was like to be gay in 70’s and 80’s, they think that it was like today. Freddie was more comfortable about those topics with foreigner press which fans’ access is more limited to it because sources and their translations are hard to find. In the case of Brit press, he always said a word about Mary, he had to. The press was already trying to capture him with his men lovers and penetrate his privacy, so Mary was a some sort of shield.
And yes there is still too much focus on Mary in new releases which is unnecesary today but there is too much effort to bisexualize him, even among fans. The movie was very succesful on that with Love Of My Life scene for newer fans. I don’t like to claim things about Freddie because I wasn’t there, but there is actual evidence about his homosexuality coming from Phoebe, Jim, Minns and Mary (and many), but people choose to believe he was bisexual, because exaggerated romanticism between Freddie and Mary seems so sweet and attractive, it almost set a relationship goals for some fans.
I don’t know if my thoughts have anything to do with the actual question I asked before, I just wanted to state my opinion. This quote is overly used by fans, non-fans, magazines and Queen related releases, so even if it is fake or paraphrased, if you repeated enough it becomes real, if it is real I would like to know the entire conversation to gain more insight. Such a popular quote should come with a real source.
I agree totally I believe she loved him and the heart doesn’t recognize the fact he was gay it only feels what it feels. His heart felt he loved men. Interesting conversation. His buddies have a book coming out about his times with them living as a gay man in Newyork it will give a great insight into his world out away from Queen and the frontman we all knew Rudii”s book and Neil preston”s book will be a lot of Mary photos and Rudi”s book will have one whole chapter on Mary. But if you wanna read a honest book get Thor and Lee’s book it will be out this summer I believe. They have a Go fund me page on twitter under Thor Arnold’s name that gives more info.
I go solely by how Freddie spoke about Mary...and in the interviews he speaks of her with a lot of love. That does not mean he was not homosexual. It just means he loved her
Dougie 4 It means he hid his homosexuality (mostly because he didn’t want to be stalked by the press). He never talked about his boyfriends except once, and that was about Jim, he still didn’t give any names. He clearly had the idea that "if I wasn’t be gay Mary would be my wife" which he also told himself, this is why he left his belongings to Mary. But with the British press he talked about Mary a lot and every release about Queen is still filled with Mary which erases his gay life. He actually lived gay, I of course don’t know him personally but it is so obvious. He tried to hide his privacy with statements about Mary I can understand that but he has became such a huge gay icon now, and everything about it is tried to be repressed. It is dissapointing because he gave courge to lots of people to come out and be themselves. Since it is pride month, it was a good time to state my resentment about it :)
Men back in the day were raised they should be with girls marry girls . So a lot of them tried to do what they were taught and it was a disaster for many and I think many couldn’t wait to graduate and get the hell out of their parents home. With that freedom was really tough I bet though think about it having the safety of a parents home with all these rules about no sex because we are talking about the 60s when kids listened to their parents. A guy has raging hormones they were probably going nuts so they were having sex with anything that moved lol.I bet a lot of them at first weren’t on good terms with their families it used to be considered a mental illness. A learned behavior and remember it was a criminal behavior to be with another man back then.
I think young men were probably scared back then. I read about the early years of bars getting raided and men as well as women being arrested.So I get why men would gather in clubs to socialize in a safe environment away from public eye. They were taught it was shameful to be who they were . I think that is heartbreaking . To me that is inhuman to treat someone in those ways.To me affection is affection no matter who is receiving it. That’s kinda the goal when folks go to bars in my book they may want hookups but at the end of the day everybody desires love and nobody has the right to determine who and when we get it.
Mary is a hot button for many but yes he did love her but not in the way her heart loved him. His body belonged with men and so did his heart. That’s who he was so he gave her what he could I believe and made sure she was taken care of what a beautiful thing to do.As a woman I get it but a shame she couldn’t break free.Queen productions has kept this fantasy that does look so beautiful alive for the fans that want to see a traditional married family man Freddie. That is so far from the truth hopefully Thor his friends book will shed some light on his life outside London.This part and these men were never spoken of and Queen and Jim Beach want it that way. But it will be an interesting year to watch his truth to finally be born it’s been too long.My suggestion would be get their book read it.
CHEVYMAN He of course loved her, but "not in the way she loved him" part was hard for fans to understand obviously. It's not fans' fault, because it is showed in that way. Still, we can use our logic and read reliable-"non-fantasized" sources to see the truth. Not all fans like unofficial books about Freddie, they blame writers for "revealing" and they don't trust them because they were not objective. That was the case in Jim's book and Phoebe's book. I hope people won't be judgemental about the book that is planned to be released by "NY daughters":)
I hope not either I’m pretty partial to them I guess.
