BLOG 68

After a time to charge my batteries, I’m off for the first trip this year. I will be in Bielefeld this weekend where they are doing various exhibitions and events in local museums. It should be interesting. I will be talking on Sunday afternoon and it will be fun.

Csaba asked what happened to Freddie’s apartment in Montreux.
The apartment in Territet was sold after Freddie died, when Mary decided she didn’t want to have it. It was bought by a lady, who, when re-decorating it, kept one wall as Freddie had it, as she liked what he had done. Freddie always loved decorating properties in his style. It has since been sold again and the new owner bought the apartment underneath to renovate it into a very big duplex.

Stefan wanted to know Freddie’s thoughts on the Mister Bad Guy album.
Of course Freddie was proud of Mister Bad Guy. I’m not sure he was 100% happy with it, but then very few artists are happy with the end result of their work and can always find something they want to improve. It represented a lot of work on his part and it happened during a hard part of his life. I think it showed him his ability to create music without being surrounded by the security of Queen. Perhaps he was disappointed with the reaction to it, but as with all of his output, once it was done, he could then focus on something new. It also brought home to him how important the others in the band were to him, not only musically, but as ‘family’.

Will asked about the paintings Freddie had at Garden Lodge.
Like many art galleries, half of Freddie’s art was in storage while the other half was on the walls. His tastes changed over the years. He had a series of Dali prints, and his collection of Japanese wood prints was at one point acknowledged as one of the largest in Britain. He had some Goya works, and also a beautiful piece by Marc Chagall. His taste was eclectic, in that he loved Joan Miro and in his bedroom had a whole series by Louis Icart. One of his friends was an artist and Freddie commissioned quite a few pieces from him. His last love was Victorian oil portraits which included a Tissot.

Lorna asked what Freddie had for breakfast.
I know I’ve answered this before, but no harm in repeating it. Generally at home Freddie would have a simple breakfast of tea, toast and jam. Usually it was home made jam as during the season for the fruit I would make 12 jars of marmalade and 12 jars of strawberry jam. These would keep for a year until the next batch was made. Very occasionally he might have some scrambled eggs and bacon, which more often than not would end up inside the cats rather than Freddie.

Lisa wanted to know if Freddie was ashamed of his Parsi roots.
I think ashamed is the wrong word. When Freddie was with friends it was never a topic of conversation. He spoke very little about the past, be it distant or recent. Not so much was known about Zoroastrianism and I don’t think Freddie wanted to be a teacher every time it would be brought up and explain its roots to everyone. Also, for Freddie, any individuals religious beliefs were their own personal thoughts, so he never encouraged talk on religion or politics. He was not particularly religious during his adulthood.

Mhark asked if Freddie was ever tempted to play John’s bass when John went on holiday during the Munich recording sessions.
I never saw Freddie with a bass in his hands, John’s or any other. I think Freddie was pragmatic enough to use John’s absence to either do some work on other tracks, create something new, or even, dare I say it, take a few days off from the studio.

Anne wanted to know a bit about the painting of Freddie with his cats.
Freddie commissioned an artist, Ann Ortman to create this painting of him and his beloved felines. In Freddie’s mind people in history were painted with their favourite horse, or dog, or surrounded by wife and family. Freddie wanted a permanent memory of himself and his favourites. She came to Garden Lodge and took a load of photos of Freddie and the various cats. She then created the painting that hung for a while in Freddie’s dining room.

Nikolaus asked about the chilli con carne that Freddie liked.
This was something I learned from my mother and it basically is a recipe of 1s. I will include it at the bottom of this blog. I used to make it when Freddie wanted something filling and warm, generally it was a winter warmer. It also made regular appearances at Freddie’s parties as he always wanted hot food served. This was the beef representative. We always had a lamb curry, this chilli and jambalaya for the hot dishes.

Daniel wanted to know how we dealt with the progress of Freddie’s illness.
As I mentioned recently, I rarely, if ever, saw Freddie getting thinner and weaker. I was there everyday and saw this man with a desire for life and living. The disease never stopped him wanting to buy more art or create more music. We were involved in giving Freddie his intravenous medication three times a day, but somehow the reason we did this was pushed to the back of my mind. There was never a time of denial, but because Freddie had said we must just get on with dealing with every day as it came, that is what we did. Freddie’s doctors were always there to hand with advice and help for us, but one piece that sticks in my mind to this day as it is something all of us must deal with at some time is this; during the last days of Freddie’s life each of us were asked to say our goodbyes to Freddie. This was to make him more at ease with leaving us. In just about all cases of someone passing, they feel guilty for leaving people behind to grieve and they try to hold on for as long as they can regardless of their pain.

Brandon asked If I was a Queen fan before I met Freddie.
I suppose the answer to that is no, I was not a fan. On the day I met him in 1979 I knew Queen had recorded Seven Seas Of Rhye, Killer Queen and Bohemian Rhapsody. I also firmly believe if I had been a big fan, then I would never have got the job taking care of the touring costumes. Queen needed someone who could deal with the costumes and them during shows, not someone who would stand open-mouthed, watching their idols during a show. Freddie often told the story of how proud he was of stealing me away from the Royal Opera House where I looked after real stars like Rudolf Nureyev, Margot Fonteyn, Luciano Pavarotti and Montserrat Caballe.

Lorna asked if there were regular tours around Montreux and the various places of interest there. If you look on the Montreux Tourism site you will find there are 3 planned tours this year, May, July and October. These include a boat trip on Lake Leman, a drink at Harry’s Bar in the Montreux Palace, where the band often relaxed and of course, a visit to the Studio Experience.
Off to pack for the weekend. Have a great time till the next one and here is the recipe.

Chilli con carne

500gm lean minced beef
1 large onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 beef stock cube
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1 410gm tin chopped tomatoes
1 410gm tin red kidney beans
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Salt and pepper

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Cook the onions and garlic for about 7-10 minutes until they are soft. Add the meat and cook for about 15 minutes until starting to brown. Mix in the stock cube, cumin, coriander, chilli powder and seasoning and cook for a further 10-15 minutes. Add the tomatoes and mix well. Cover and cook gently for at least an hour. This can cook gently for longer with no detriment to the taste. Add the drained kidney beans and cook for a further ½ hour. We always served this with plain boiled rice.