Freddie Mercury died peacefully at home on November 24, 1991, surrounded by his closest friends.
The Queen frontman had put up a spirited fight after testing HIV positive and diagnosed with AIDS but the sense of loss was still great when he finally succumbed to bronchial pneumonia, a complication due to AIDS.
There was a small group of his closest friends at his West Kensington home, One Garden Lodge, with Dave Clark, of The Dave Clark 5, as one of them that was there by the singers side when he took his last breath.
Recalling what happened next in a 2008 interview with the Daily Mail, Dave Clark said: "I was with him at his house right at the end. The doctors had left and we knew it was only a matter of time.”
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Freddie had decided that his time was almost up and in the days before he died, he had stopped taking his AIDS medication.
After Freddie passed away, Dave immediately shared the heartbreaking news with the others in the house, who had taken it in turns to be with Freddie so that he was never alone.
Dave recalled: "We were alone, and when he passed away,” he said. “I went downstairs to tell Phoebe, his PA [Phoebe was Mercury’s pet name for his assistant Peter Freestone], and Joe [Fanelli].
“Mary Austin came over and I phoned Freddie’s parents to break the news."
Dave said that Freddie's death had seemed peaceful after the final days of suffering.
He said: "He looked at peace but it was such a waste.
“He gave so much, but he had so much more to give.”
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Peter Freestone told Express Online that after Freddie passed away, the energy and dynamics in the house immediately changed.
He said: "For me, the minute Freddie passed away, it became just bricks and mortar. It lost the warm glow that Freddie imbued into it.”
The following morning, it was announced that Freddie had died, which was just days after the world had been informed that he was gravely ill.
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A statement from Freddie at the time revealed: "Following enormous conjecture in the press, I wish to confirm that I have been tested HIV positive and have AIDS.
“I felt it correct to keep this information private in order to protect the privacy of those around me.
“However, the time has now come for my friends and fans around the world to know the truth, and I hope everyone will join me, my doctors and all those worldwide in the fight against this terrible disease.”
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Freddie Mercury was carried from his deathbed to fulfil 'one last wish'
Before his death, Freddie had arranged with his 'love of his life' Mary Austin for his remains to be laid to rest in a secret location.
Mary explained the decision, saying: “Fans can be deeply obsessive.
“He wanted it to remain a secret and it will remain so,” she added, revealing how she had sneaked out of the house he left her in his will to scatter his ashes alone one morning.
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“It had to be like normal day so the staff wouldn’t suspect anything — because staff gossip. They just cannot resist it,” she said.
“But nobody will ever know where he is buried because that was his wish.”
Freddie's life and music is still celebrated some 28 years later as his star continues to shine as bright as it did when he was hailed as one of the greatest performers in the music world.
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