New book claims Freddie Mercury had a ‘secret daughter’ with a close friend’s wife

Close friends of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury have rubbished claims that he had a secret daughter.

Ahead of the publication of Love, Freddie: Freddie Mercury’s Secret Life and Love, co-written with author Lesley-Ann Jones, a woman claiming to be the singer’s secret daughter has spoken publicly for the first time.

The woman, identified only as B, said she was conceived when Mercury had an affair with a close friend’s wife in 1976. The book draws on 17 handwritten diaries said to have been given to her by the singer.

Now 48, B said that only the LGBTQ+ Queen star’s inner circle ever knew about her existence. However, some of those closest to Mercury have refuted the suggestion.

The book’s description reads: “Love, Freddie shares shocking secrets from [his] childhood, lifts the lid on his deepest fears and most passionate desires, explores the inspiration behind his song-writing, revisits his closest relationships and reveals the love of his life. Here, once and for all, is Freddie Mercury’s true story.”

In a statement published by the Daily Mail, B shared an extract from the book.

“Freddie Mercury was and is my father,” it insists. “We had a very close and loving relationship from the moment I was born and throughout the final 15 years of his life. He adored me and was devoted to me.

“I didn’t want to share my dad with the whole world. After his death, I had to learn to live with the attacks against him, the misrepresentations of him, and with the feeling that my dad now belonged to everyone.

“I cried and mourned my dad, while fans all around the world mourned Freddie. When you are 15 years old, it’s not easy.

‘For 34 years, Freddie’s life has been twisted and rewritten’

“I had to become an adult without him… for 30 years I had to build my life and family without him… I needed to have my dad just for me and my family. How could I have spoken before?”

When asked about B, Queen guitarist Brian May said he wanted to remain neutral. However, Brian May’s wife, former EastEnders star Anita Dobson, dismissed the claims as “fake news”, telling the Mirror: “It seems inconceivable that he would have a child with someone we don’t know about.”

B told the Daily Mail she was “devastated” by that comment.

“For 34 years, the truth of Freddie’s life has been distorted, twisted and rewritten, but she said nothing, with the exception of her comment about the movie Bohemian Rhapsody, which she called artistic licence,” B claimed.

“She has not yet read the book, yet she apparently makes this statement. I don’t understand why.”

‘I am not the guardian of such a secret’

But Mary Austin, another close friend who inherited much of Freddie Mercury’s estate, also voiced doubts about a love child.

“Freddie had a glorious openness and I cannot imagine he would have wanted to, or been able to, keep such a joyful event a secret, either from me or other people closest to him,” she recently told The Sunday Times.

She never saw Mercury writing in a diary, she added. The first entry is said to be dated 20 June 1976, while Austin was still living with him.

Mercury told Austin of his sexuality in December 1976, a revelation that ended their romantic relationship.

“The truth is that I am simply not the guardian of such a secret. I’ve never known of any child, or of any diaries,” she went on to say. “If Freddie had indeed had a child without me knowing anything about it, that would be astonishing.”

The book’s origin remained “baffling” to her and there was no provision in his will for “any kind of secret trust”, she said. However, Jones claimed that Mercury provided for B through a private legal arrangement.

Austin hoped publishers Whitefox had “rigorously investigated the veracity of the claims.”

The publishers told The Sunday Times: “Whitefox takes issues of accuracy, legality and ethics seriously, and we work to ensure that any project we are involved with has been subject to appropriate editorial and legal scrutiny.”

Love, Freddie is due to be published on 5 September.

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