Firstly, Freddie Mercury’s Coronation crown and robe, which he wore during his final Queen concerts during the Magic Tour of 1986, have gone on display.
His former lover Mary Austin was left the costumes in his will and she’s planning on auditioning them late this year.
Freddie’s theatre dress crown and its fake fur cloak of red velvet and rhinestones were made by his friend and costume designer Diana Moseley. Sold together, they are estimated to make £60,000-80,000 at auction on September 6 after being toured around the world by Sotheby’s.
In the meantime, the pieces of Queen history are now on display outside the auction house’s London branch on New Bond Street in their windows, which can be viewed by the public from the street. Fans can see them for themselves until May 5.
Meanwhile, the late singer has also been honoured with having one of his Queen songs selected for King Charles III’s official Coronation Celebration Playlist on Spotify.
READ MORE: Freddie Mercury ex Mary Austin gives rare emotional interview on star
The playlist of 26 songs has been hand-selected on behalf of His Majesty by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. The Spotify selection includes modern British hits from Harry Styles’ Treat People With Kindness to Sam Ryder’s Eurovision entry SPACE MAN and even Years & Years’ aptly named song King. But there are plenty of classic tracks too from The Who’s Love Reign O’er Me to Tom Jones’ Green Green Grass of Home and The Beatles’ Come Together.
Given the history of Queen with the British crown over the last half a century – including Sir Brian playing God Save The Queen on the roof of Buckingham Palace – it’s unsurprising that one of their hits has been chosen. But can you guess what it is? We’ll give you a clue – it’s a Live Aid classic.
The 17th track on the King’s official Coronation Celebration Playlist is the 2011 remastered version of We Are The Champions. Penned by Freddie for Queen’s 1977 album News of the World, the song hit No 2 in the UK Singles Chart and No 4 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
In fact, in 2011 a team of scientific researchers discovered that the song was the catchiest in the history of popular music. Sir Brian May has called the track that became an anthem for victories at sporting events, “unifying and positive”.
