Blog 32

Eleven years ago we had flooding in the Czech Republic which they called ‘once in a hundred years’. Today we are experiencing the same conditions as 11 years ago. I think Mother Nature is getting her own back for what we are doing to this planet. On a slightly lighter note, I am listening to the Donizetti opera about Noah and the Flood!

Matek asked for clarification on exactly when Freddie knew he was HIV positive.
Most of you know that I stick by the Spring ’87 timeline. I saw the mark on his wrist that was biopsied and Freddie himself told me the result of that biopsy about 6 weeks after it was taken. Freddie might have suspected before this, but never voiced these suspicions to any of us in Garden Lodge. Why did Freddie suddenly and mysteriously leave Munich when he did? Maybe because Garden Lodge was ready to live in and he was fed up with the stories printed in the gossip columns of that cities newspapers about his impending marriage to Barbara. I would also like to see all the MANY signs that the Magic tour was going to be the last.

Louise wanted to know if Dustin Hoffman did visit Garden Lodge.
Yes, he did. Dustin had bought an old house in London and he had asked Robin Moore-Ede, the designer Freddie used for Garden Lodge, if he could show him some work he had done. Rather than show drawings, Robin asked Freddie if Dustin could see Garden Lodge. Freddie readily agreed and acted as the tour guide, pointing out all the details that made up the whole. It was a fun few hours.

Adrianna, amongst others asked about Freddie’s cigarettes.
When I first saw Freddie smoking in 1980 he was smoking Marlboro Red. He soon changed over to Silk Cut in the UK. He started on the Purple ones, but as time went by he did continue with the pale Yellow packets. In 1989 he basically stopped altogether, on doctors orders, except for the occasional one in the studio when he was under pressure.

Lee asked if Freddie ever met Madonna.
To my knowledge it never happened. I know she used to run in Hyde park when she was in town, and Freddie used to say that he doubted very much he would be allowed anywhere near her even if they did meet, because she was always totally surrounded by her security. He never understood the need for so many bodyguards, and felt totally secure going out only with Terry.

Jorge wanted to know about Freddie and Montreux.
Modern times are not kind to history, and very few actual places still exist as they were in Freddie’s day. Saying that, we do organize the Annual celebration on Freddie’s birthday in September. While none of the places he lived are open to the public as they are private residences, we have a boat trip on Lake Geneva where you are able to see the Duck House, the boat house featured on the Made in Heaven album, and also sail past the last apartment he lived in. Also some good news, at some time in the near future and exhibition of Queen will open in the old Mountain Studios.

Ola asked what Freddie might think about his life being exposed here.
The main reason I feel ok about this is because of something Freddie once said to me. He had heard about a book being written about him, a very respectful book, but only commenting about all the success and good things that happened to him during his life. When he heard this he said that if, after he had died, people were still interested in him and his music, he wanted them to know all about the let downs, sad and hard times. His quote was… ‘let them have the warts and all’…. This basically means everything. It is now more than 20 years on, and happily there is as much interest in Freddie and Queen’s music as there ever was.

Linda wanted to know why she cannot find pictures of Mary and her children.
I think this is down to Mary wanting to raise her children out of the limelight and try to give them as normal a childhood as possible. Obviously they will have benefits that most children don’t have, but at least they won’t have the press breathing down their necks as they get on with their lives. And, NO, neither of the children were Freddie’s!

Christine asked about the recording of Under Pressure with David Bowie.
What happened was that Freddie thought it might be a good idea if neither he nor David were together when Freddie recorded his part. David would then record his ideas and then they would see where the ideas met and they could work things out. While Freddie was recording, unknown to him, David was listening and when it was David’s turn Freddie was amazed at how their ideas were so close. Freddie laughed when he found out how it had happened.

Colin wanted to know about the leather armband Freddie wore for Live Aid.
There was no hidden meaning behind this. As you know, whenever Queen performed their stage costumes were always a talking point. Freddie wanted to look as normally dressed as he could for this show, but couldn’t resist a tiny bit of showmanship and found this leather wristband amongst his jewellery. He wanted to know if it would be talked about, and sure enough it has been since the show in 1985.

Ellen asked about colognes and aftershaves.
I’m sure I have done this one before, but here goes again. At the time Freddie liked Armani and Karl Lagerfeld. When he was in Montreux for lengths of time he discovered Eau Dynamisante by Clarins. He always had a bottle of l’Air de Temps around in case he needed a present to give to a lady friend, but he also loved l’Interdit by Givenchy which was created for Audrey Hepburn. Sadly I think the Clarins is the only one readily available today.

Ok, now to get ready to try to get to Prague. Milan and I are due to talk in some schools tomorrow about HIV/AIDS with our TFA Project (Titanic-Freddie-AIDS). I will explain more about this one day.
Have a great week!