Freddie Auction and Sotheby's book discussion

www.sothebys.com/en/series/freddie-mercury-a-world-of-his-own
there will be exhibitions before

Apologies, Just seen there's already a thread on this.

She said that some of the money will be going to charity.

I think that's a poor choice of words.  He left instructions for the band / Jim as to what to do with his music. As far as we know, he left no instructions for Mary as to what to do with the house (beyond Jim Hutton's undertsanding that he could live there as long as he wanted, IIRC).

She could have burnt the lot in the garden the day after the funeral, and been entirely within her rights.  Or she could have sold it off piecemeal privately.

I think you should recalibrate your sense of what's shameful.

My view on this is that I'd hope the band had been given the option of coming to an agreement on the stagewear, which is more "Queen related" than "Freddie personal"

I think she has three sons, two of which Freddie was Godfather to, so I guess he'd have wanted them to be looked after.

One could look at this cynically, or as a woman of mature years acting sensibly to arrange her affairs, for the benefit of her family.

I believe monetary gifts given more than seven years before death don't incur inheritance tax.

not all this nonsense again.
honestly, please go and get yourself a life - instead of telling others what they can/can't do with theirs.

a huge slice of the revenue WILL be donated to charity. the remainder? - how do you envisage the Garden Lodge running/maintenance costs are being funded? in all of Freddie's many extravagant purchases down the years, I don't ever recall him buying an actual Money Tree for the Garden Lodge grounds, do you?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=eg4dt6z9C9U&pp=ygULbWFyeSBhdXN0aW4%3D

I thought the same about her being unwell when I read that quote about getting her affairs in order (that is usually a euphemistic term for tying loose ends, etc. when someone is terminally ill). I do hope she is OK.

The worst thing is that there will be the predictable Mary haters on social media attacking her for doing this. As far as I am concerned, she has always stood by Freddie and never sold his story or behaved in any way disloyal to the man or his memory. 

My only concern here is where will some of these historic items end up. I hope Brian and Roger and those at QPL work something out and put their hands in their pockets to save some of these things. 

Yes, we cannot comprehend just what a huge responsibility it must be to hold on to this stuff. And that responsibility has surely only grown with the rise of Freddie's legendary status over the years; I mean, he was a legend in his lifetime, sure, but he has reached an untouchable legendary status in recent years which puts him right at the top of the tree of legends alongside Elvis and Lennon (something which would make the old dear smile I am sure!). 

I know; and that's what worries me. QPL really need to pull their fingers out concerning this collection - they have the money to do so and should do everything in their power to save what they can. It breaks my heart that items like his crown and cape, lyrics to Killer Queen, etc. could simply end up in the hands of some rich collector who may only care about the growing value of such items. 

not too many items though, eh?
the cost of insurance for some of those would eat into a lottery win quite rapidly.

judgment

Serious question - what would QPL do with it? Apart from selling cheap copies of various bits and pieces? Surely it's better for stuff to be in the hands of a collector who would at least look after it, than gathering dust at the back of a warehouse somewhere?

We are ALL but temporary guardians of 'our' possessions.
Sooner or later, someone else will possess them....