Freddie Mercury: 'Only TWO people ever deeply hurt Queen star' says closest friend

Freddie often spoke about his vulnerable heart and the “scars” he carried from previous affairs and heartbreaks. But Peter knew the music legend better than almost anyone and says it was betrayal that devastated Freddie more than anything. Peter lived with the Queen star for 12 years at One Garden Lodge in Kensington. They travelled the world together and Peter was there at the end, holding Freddie’s hand at the bedside vigil. He talked exclusively to Express Online. 

Peter says: “He only really got hurt and made a mistake with two people in the time I knew him. He was good a sussing people out quickly.

“I would say, ’This person is only hanging around for your money and fame.’ He’d reply, ‘You really think I’m so stupid? It’s my money, my life. I know what they’re doing but I am getting something out of it, too’ Freddie just enjoyed the company or the sex or being amused by the situation and he’d say, ‘When I’m done, I will turn around and say ‘enough.’

The first person to hurt Freddie was his old driver before Terry Giddings, who had lost his licence. Rather than admit the truth, he disappeared and wouldn’t return calls, leaving Freddie stranded and worried.

“When he found out, Freddie summoned him to the house and said, ‘Darling, we could have found something else for you to do.’ But because he didn’t tell the truth, Freddie cut him off and fired him immediately.”

Trust was everything to the star and one person, more than anyone else, betrayed that trust in the most terrible way towards the end of Freddie’s life.

Peter says: “Freddie discovered his life through Paul Prenter. He found it wasn’t such a sin to be gay, you could go out, you could have relationships.”

Prenter is depicted in Bohemian Rhapsody as the main villain. He was Freddie’s manager from 1977 to 1986.

Peter says: “Paul was looking after the whole band but then they got rid of him because he was spending 90% of the time with Freddie. And Freddie took him on. It wasn’t as bad as you see in the film. Paul is used to represent the bad side of Freddie but he is two or three people rolled into one.

“However, he really was trying to steer Freddie away from the band. In the end, he became unreliable and Freddie knew enough was enough and let him go.”

The accepted ruth is that Freddie finally turned away from his heavy partying in 1986 but Prenter did not. At the time, Freddie already feared he might be HIV positive and wanted to clean up his life.

Peter says: “It was alright for a year and then Paul sold his story. That hurt Freddie so much. He couldn’t understand why someone would do that.”

Prenter was paid £32,000 by the Sun and the lurid revelations ran on May 4, 1987. They included descriptions of Freddie’s promiscuity, his extreme loneliness, his first homosexual experiences aged 14 and his fears of AIDS.

The headline splashed details that two of Freddie’s former lovers Tony Bastin and John Murphy had died of AIDS. The article publicly named Freddie’s partner, Jim Hutton. Prenter also sold personal photographs.

His family have defended his actions. They said he needed the money for his own HIV treatments.

Peter says Freddie knew this but could never forgive, or even understand, Prenter’s huge betrayal. Not only were the deeply personal and lifestyle revelations upsetting for Freddie, the implication was that he was at risk of contracting (or having already contracted) the virus himself.

Peter recalls Freddie’s devastation; “He said ‘Why didn’t he just ask me for the money? I would have given him anything.’ It made him doubt his ability to trust and judge people.

“It made him feel so vulnerable and unsure of himself. It made him even more afraid of what might happen if he ever revealed he was ill.”

Apparently Prenter tried to reach Freddie, to explain, “but Freddie wouldn’t speak to him.”

Freddie’s heart was huge and easily bruised, but it was also resilient. It was trust that he prized most and by betraying that, Prenter hurt him more than anyone else.

Peter is promoting the new box set Never Boring, which collects all of Freddie’s solo works, as well as rare and unseen photos, sketches, notes and thoughts. Out now.