When fans consider the important people in Freddie Mercury‘s personal life, the names of Mary Austin and Jim Hutton would be the first ones that come to mind. However, there was another person who helped the Queen a lot, and that was Peter Freestone.
Freddie met Peter ‘Phoebe’ Freestone back in 1979, nine years after the formation of Queen. Even though Peter was hired as his bodyguard, he was doing more than simply protecting Freddie from possible danger. Freestone was a close friend of Freddie’s and lived with him in his Kensington home, Garden Lodge. While he was working for Mercury, Peter was doing anything the singer needed such as being his waiter, chef, and many more.
In addition to his skills for providing everything for Freddie, Peter was also a close friend of the Queen icon, who stood by him in his highs and lows. Phoebe also helped Freddie spend his last years happy following his AIDS diagnosis while Mercury himself didn’t actually know if he had contracted the disease but was assuming that he did.
Did Freddie Mercury Know About His AIDS Diagnosis?
According to Peter, back in the day, Freddie didn’t think he would catch AIDS even though there was always a possibility. Nevertheless, he was convinced that got it in 1987. As Peter said, Freddie avoided the confirmation that he has AIDS as much as possible by not taking the calls of his doctor. Eventually, his doctor called Mary Austin, who convinced Freddie to speak with his doctor.
Peter pointed out that Freddie knew exactly what the doctor is going to say, and that’s why he didn’t want to listen to him. Probably, he wanted to live his life filled with happiness till the end. The relationship between these two close friends lasted until the death of Freddie back in 1991, who passed away at the age of 45 due to bronchial pneumonia caused by AIDS in his Kensington house.
Following the departure of Queen legend from this world, Peter realized that Freddie was the one who made the house such a welcoming and warmful place as he found out that the house became just a pile of brick and a wall after Freddie’s death.
