Mary was 19 when she first met Freddie. Until then her life had been deprived. Her parents were poor. Her father worked as a hand-trimmer for wallpaper specialist and her mother was a domestic for a small company. Both parents were deaf and communicated through sign language and lip-reading.

It was while working as a customer PR at the trendy Biba store in London, where her customers included Paul McCartney and Mick Jagger, that she met Freddie and Queen drummer Roger Taylor, who ran a stall in nearby Kensington Market, selling old clothes and Freddie’s artwork. Mary still has one of his excellent drawings of Jimi Hendrix. Although Freddie was quite intimidating, Mary found herself fascinated by this ‘wild-looking artistic musician’. She says, ‘He was like no one I had ever met before. He was very confident and I have never been confident. We grew together. I liked him - and it went on from there.’

But when freddie first asked her for a date on his 24th birthday, Mary pretended she was busy on that particular night.

‘I was trying to be cool,’ she recalls with a smile, ‘not because there was any real reason I couldn’t go. But Freddie wasn’t put off. We went out the next day instead. He wanted to go and see Mott The Hoople at the Marquee club in Soho. Freddie didn’t have much money then and so we just did normal things like any other young people. There were no fancy dinners - they came later when he hit the big time. It took about three years for me to really fall in love. But I had never felt that way about anyone.’

She first shared a £10 a week bed-sit with Freddie in Victoria Road, Kensington. After two years together they moved to a larger, self-contained flat in Holland Road, which cost them £19 a week. By then Queen had signed a record deal and had their first big hit, Seven Seas Of Rhye.

It was at a showcase held at Ealing College of Art, Freddie’s old art school, that Mary first recognised his star quality.

‘Things had suddenly taken a turn for him and the band. Freddie was just so good on that stage, like I had never seen him before, as if it was something he’d stored up. For the first time I felt, “Here is a star in the making. He’s on his way. I don’t think he needs me any more.” I didn’t feel tearful or upset. I was happy that it was at last happening for him because of his talent.

‘When he came off the stage all the girls and his friends were crowding around him,’ she says. ‘He was so busy. I started to walk away and he came running after me. He said, “Where are you going?” I told him I was going home. But he wouldn’t let me go. That night, I realised that I had to go along with this and be part of it. As everything took off I was watching him flower. It was wonderful to observe. There was something about seeing that happen that was exciting. I was so happy that he wanted to be with me.

‘I felt very safe with him,’ she adds. ‘The more I got to know him, the more I loved him for himself. He had quality as a person which I think is rare in life these days. One thing which was always constant was the love. We knew we could trust each other and we were safe with each other. We knew that we would never hurt each other on purpose.’ She says.

‘One Christmas he bought me a ring and put it in the most enormous box. I opened the box and inside was another box, and so it went on until I got to this very tiny box. When I opened it, there was this beautiful Egyptian scarab ring. It’s supposed to bring good luck. He was very sweet and quite shy about giving it to me.’

Mary laughs for a moment, as she remembers the first time she took Freddie, with his thick mane of long, black hair, home to meet her father in their terraced home. ‘I hadn’t warned my father how extraordinary looking Freddie was and so I think my father handled the situation very well. Sadly, my mother never met Freddie as she had died four years earlier. My father opened the door and just stayed very calm and treated Freddie very warmly. There were a few glances and comments from the neighbours. Afterwards I realised bringing home this musician must have been quite a shock for him.’