Freddie Mercury auction: Queen star's moustache comb goes for over £150k

15 September 2023, 14:21

Freddie Mercury's personal moustache comb went for over £150,000 at the auction. Picture: Alamy/Sothebys

The series of sales of the Queen legend's personal belongings have ended, raising a record £40 million.

The auction of Freddie Mercury's personal belongings has ended, with the lots raising over £40 million - a record for such a collection.

Over 41,800 bids were made on 1406 lots across six auctions, which included:

A Tiffany moustache comb belonging to the Queen legend has sold for a huge £152,000 - a far cry from its estimated value of £400

A neon telephone, acquired by the star in Munich: £40,640
A Cartier onyx and diamond ring, gifted by Sir Elton John to his friend Freddie: £273,050
Some ephemera relating to Mercury's famous birthday parties, including a photocopy of the bar bill from the star's birthday bash in Munich in 1985: £27,940
Mercury's personal mini-bar, with a pink marble top: £120,650
29 cat ornaments including two ceramic Japanese maneki-neko cats: £30,480
The crown and cloak worn for Queen's final performance on the ‘Magic’ Tour (1986), which ended
with Queen’s very last live show together at Knebworth in 1986: £635,000

One of the pages of Freddie Mercury's draft lyrics to Bohemian Rhapsody. Picture: Sotheby's

The most expensive item was Mercury's Yamaha grand piano, on which he wrote most of Queen's greatest hits, which sold for a staggering 1.7 million, followed by the draft lyrics for Bohemian Rhapsody which went for an impressive £1.4 million.

Bidders came from 76 countries, particularly from those areas where Mercury’s fan base is strongest, including: the UK, North America, Germany, Italy, Japan, Australia, Mexico & Brazil.

Meanwhile, the month-long exhibition of the collection which ended earlier this month was visited by 150,000 people, with fans from Japan, the Americas and across Europe.

Mercury's grand piano went for over £1.7 million at the auction. Picture: Sotheby's

Rafael Reisman from Brazil, who bought the cloak and crown said: “My fascination with Queen, and particularly Freddie, started when I was 15 and managed to find the money to go to their iconic Rock in Rio concert in 1985.

"People have been asking if I will take the items I have won outside of London, but I feel that although Freddie made his home here, he really belongs to the world.”