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I am currently in Dresden for the Hope Gala, an annual event to raise money for their HIV/AIDS charities. It will be a very long afternoon/evening, but definitely for a good cause. I will be selling tombola tickets during the interval!

Marco asked if Joe Fanelli was still alive.
Sadly, Joe died not so long after Freddie. He was in the USA and suddenly had a brain seizure. The brain is another organ that is sometimes affected by HIV/AIDS.

Brandon wanted to know if Queen had any connection with Atlanta, Georgia, USA
During most of the tours by Queen in the 70s and 80s, Atlanta featured in the tours. It is a major city on the touring circuit, and they band always had a good time performing there and also with the social life after the shows.

Jos asked about Freddie’s teeth.
Freddie was no more scared of dentists than any of us. I am saying this as someone who doesn’t know anyone who really looks forward to visiting their dentist. The main reason he never did anything about his teeth, even though he hated them as seen by the way he covered his mouth very often when he laughed during interviews and also how he used to cover his teeth with his top lip, was really because he didn’t want to risk changing the sound chamber in his mouth, which could have altered his voice production. Freddie is not the only singer to be bothered about this.

Michael wanted to know more about Delilah.
Delilah was Freddie’s favourite cat. He never tried to hide his extreme love of her, Freddie loved all his felines, but she was always the winner in the love stakes. As regards Freddie’s song named after her, most of the biographical quotes are true. While she didn’t actually answer the phone herself, she would often talk to Freddie. One of us in Garden Lodge would answer the call and find Delilah, pick her up and hold the receiver near her. With a very gentle squeeze she would emit a meow to which Freddie would make happy noises to her. Oh, and yes, she did often pee around the house and would have done so on the suite in the Japanese drawing room, if she was permitted in there.

Irene asked if Freddie preferred silver jewellery to gold.
In fact in the later years Freddie wore very little jewellery at all. He didn’t wear a watch and after the early 70s you don’t see any bracelets, necklaces or rings until he started to wear the gold ring given to him by Jim Hutton. When buying jewellery as a gift for others, he generally had an idea which metal they preferred.

Sam asked about Freddie’s attitude to signing autographs and photos taken by fans.
Freddie knew that everything he had came from his fans, by virtue of the fact that it was them who were continually buying his videos and music. As such he very rarely refused to sign things and have photos taken with fans. I remember once there was a group of us went to a restaurant and there we a couple of fans noticed Freddie’s arrival. We sat down and ordered our food and it arrived. One of the fans had finished eating and came over to the table, just as Freddie was raising a fork full of food to his mouth, and pushed a piece of paper in front of Freddie asking for an autograph. Freddie asked him to go away with a couple of impolite words. Even after that incident, when we were leaving, Freddie went over to the fans and signed the paper, explaining what the fan had done was actually quite rude. If people respected Freddie, he would be great with them.

Stephen asked what Freddie’s favourite brand of clothing was.
Freddie had no great preference, as long as it looked good and felt comfortable, he was happy with most brands. In the last 5 years of his life, most of his suits and formal clothing were made for him. I suppose it is no secret that his favourite brand for underwear was Marks and Spencers!

Valerie, from Australia wanted to know if there would be any celebration for Freddie’s birthday next year.
I will certainly be involved in the annual birthday celebrations in Montreux, Switzerland, on the 5th, 6th and 7th of September next year. There will be added new events plus of course the new, exciting Exhibition will be open in the old Mountain Studio, where people can stand/sit in the exact place where Freddie made his last recordings. It will be a very interesting experience and will also be helping out the Mercury Phoenix Trust.

Melina asked if music was constantly playing in Garden Lodge.
I think the answer to this is no. There were times Freddie wanted so real peace and quiet. He had state of the art reproduction systems so that her could listen to works in progress with as close to studio sound, but he didn’t feel it necessary to have music on all day.

Mona Lisa wanted to know if Freddie spoke Spanish.
I’m afraid Spanish was not a language that Freddie spoke. Like many people he had a few words that he could use during any shows in Spanish speaking countries, but he certainly couldn’t hold a conversation in that language.

Language, a good choice for the last question. I will be spending a couple of days with The Drops, a young Czech band, to continue our English lessons, so that when they sing songs in English, the accents are less obvious. They are great fun and eager learners. Rock music is certainly in good hands and will certainly be going forward for the next generation. Be back soon!