Moustache combs among Freddie Mercury items sold for £40,000,000 | UK News

Freddie Mercury’s fascinating personal collection – that included a silver Tiffany moustache comb – fetched an astonishing £40 million at auction.

All 1,406 items belonging to the late Queen superstar were sold, with more than 41,800 bids placed at the Sotheby’s sale in London, which wrapped up on Thursday.

The 1973 Yamaha grand piano Freddie used to compose some of the group’s iconic songs brought in the highest amount at £1.7m – a record for a composer’s piano.

The second highest sum fetched was £1.4m for Bohemian Rhapsody draft lyrics, featuring an alternative title (Mongolian Rhapsody) and alternative lines.

Meanwhile a number of Freddie’s quirkier belongings brought in more than expected.

Among them was his Tiffany & Co silver moustache comb, which was estimated to make £400 but sold for £152,000.

David MacDonald, head of single owner sales at Sotheby’s London, said there were ‘so many magical moments and so many magical objects’ at the auction, but Freddy’s opulent grooming tool probably ‘cast the strongest spell’.

He added: ‘I mean – how else to tend the most famous moustache in the world? it had to be silver, and it had to be Tiffany. And for one determined buyer, it had to be theirs.’

Meanwhile a motley group of 29 feline ornaments, including a Puss in Boots cookie jar, had an estimate of £300-£500 but sold for £30,480 and a school book belonging to Freddy with an estimate of £800-£1,200 fetched an impressive £69,850.

Other treasures sold included a silver snake bangle worn in the Bohemian Rhapsody video in 1975, which made £698,500, the signature crown and cloak worn for the final performance during the Magic tour in 1986, which went for £635,000 and the ceremonial military-style jacket created for Freddie’s 39th birthday party in Munich in 1985, which fetched £457,200.

The collection had been on display in London for over a month as part of Sotheby’s ‘Freddie Mercury: A World of His Own’ exhibition, and attracted thousands of fans, many travelling from across the world see the the star’s colourful belongings.

One devotee and buyer from Japan said: ‘I was once lucky enough to have met Freddie in Japan – a day I will never forget!  Like the other bidders and fans from Japan, I was hoping to bring home one of Freddie Mercury’s precious items from Sotheby’s. 

‘I am very grateful that this auction has allowed my dreams to come true and I won my favourite two songs (We Are The Champions and Don’t Stop Me Now) and am able to take these very happy memories back to Japan!’

Olivia Barker, Sotheby’s Europe chairman, said the chance to see beyond the public persona of an icon such as Freddie had fascinated fans old and new.

‘Behind every public persona there is a private individual, guarding a side of themselves that is rarely seen, and it is this side of Freddie that has captured the hearts and minds of the public all over the world,’ she explained.

‘What we have witnessed at Sotheby’s over the last month has been nothing short of phenomenal. ‘A World of His Own’ has produced a whole new generation of fans joining the throng of those who were around in the 70s and 80s to celebrate the supernova that was Freddie Mercury.’

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