Mary Austin, Freddie Mercury’s former fiancée and lifelong confidante, is giving fans an unusually intimate look at the Queen frontman in her new book, A Life in Lyrics. Austin spent years with Mercury and inherited his beloved Garden Lodge home after his death in 1991. While preparing to auction some of his possessions, she and her sons discovered a treasure hidden in the upholstered piano stool beneath the Yamaha grand piano where Mercury wrote some of Queen’s biggest hits, including “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “We Are the Champions.” The book features Mercury’s handwritten lyrics, personal photos and Austin’s memories of their relationship. She also discusses the painful transition from romance to friendship after Mercury told her he was bisexual in 1977, saying their friendship became something even rarer and more meaningful. Austin says she has never watched the 2018 movie Bohemian Rhapsody because she lived the story herself and didn’t want to see someone else’s version of it. She also reveals how much Mercury adored his cats, including Delilah, who inspired the Queen song of the same name. And she recalls pushing Mercury to perform at Live Aid in 1985 — only to have him stop speaking to her before the concert. She watched from the crowd as Queen delivered the legendary performance that helped revive the band. Austin says putting the book together helped her finally see Mercury from a different perspective — not just as the man she knew, but as the extraordinary performer the rest of the world saw.