Freddie Mercury came out in 1976. But he never stopped loving his ex-fiancée, Mary Austin.

Freddie Mercury was 23 years old when he met his 'soulmate' Mary Austin in 1964. It was a year before he would form Queen.

Austin was 19 years old and worked at a prestigious fashion boutique in Kensington, UK, while Mercury worked at a clothing stall. 

"He was like no one I had ever met before," Austin told OK! Magazine in 2000. "He was very confident, and I have never been confident. We grew together. I liked him – and it went on from there."

Watch the trailer for Bohemian Rapsody, based on the life of Freddie Mercury. Post continues after video. 

Mercury pursued his passion in music and Austin stayed by his side as the main breadwinner, while they rented out a tiny bedsit for a few dollars a week. 

Four years into their relationship, the singer proposed. It was during the same year that Queen's debut album was released. However, the pair would never marry. 

"I was speechless. I remember thinking, 'I don’t understand what’s going on'," Austin later recalled. "I just whispered, 'Yes. I will.'"

For Mercury, his fiancee was "incredibly important," said the singer's former personal assistant, Peter Freestone.

"Don’t forget, she looked after him for the first years when he wasn’t making a penny and Mary was working. So she paid the rent, she paid for everything when they were living together from 1969," he said in a Channel 5 documentary about Mercury.

According to Yasmine Pettigrew, a friend of the couple, they stuck by each other. 

"They were very much a pair," she said. "He watched over her as well. He always wanted to know, if he was with Mary, that Mary was okay.

"She stuck by him and he stuck by her. You put your life in your hands if you tried to come between them, that’s for sure. Everyone knew that. They had a bond which people who are together forever have."

Mary Austin, 1970. Image: Getty.

In the years that followed swiftly after their relationship began, Queen became one of the most famous bands in the world. The release of their albums Sheer Heart Attack (1974) and A Night at the Opera (1975) sat at the top of music charts around the world. 

One hit song, 'Love Of My Life', was reportedly written specifically for Austin, by Mercury. 

A year after the release of Queen's second album, the pair's relationship became complicated. The singer would return home late each night and Austin was sure he was having an affair with another woman. But in 1976, Mercury admitted his feelings about his sexuality.

"I’ll never forget that moment," his wife told the Daily Mail in 2013.

"Being a bit naive, it had taken me a while to realise the truth. Afterward, he felt good about having finally told me he was bisexual. Although I do remember saying to him at the time, 'No Freddie, I don’t think you are bisexual. I think you are gay.'"

The realisation broke the pair up, but they remained close and Austin began working for his management company. She booked limos and hotels for the band.

Freddie Mercury and Mary Austin, 1977. Image: Getty.

"She went on the road with them. There are photographs of them together backstage at concerts into the late Seventies by which stage they were no longer a couple," author Mark Blake wrote in the biography, Mercury.

"She stayed as part of the band’s entourage because she was part of his entourage. She was the most important person in that entourage."

Mercury eventually fell in love with Jim Hutton, who became his long-term partner but Austin remained a constant, prevailing friend in his life. The fact caused problems in their other romantic relationships. 

But for Mercury, there was no one else would could replace her. 

"All my lovers asked me why they couldn’t replace Mary but it’s simply impossible. The only friend I’ve got is Mary, and I don’t want anybody else," he explained. 

"To me, she was my common-law wife. To me, it was a marriage. We believe in each other. That’s enough for me. I couldn’t fall in love with a man the same way as I have with Mary."

Freddie Mercury and Mary Austin, 1985. Image: Getty.

Austin went on to have two children with painter Piers Cameron; Richard, who Mercury was godfather to, and Jamie who was born shortly after Mercury's death.

However, Cameron thought the bond between Austin and Mercury was too much, and he eventually left her. 

"He had always felt overshadowed by Freddie," she told OK Magazine.

The pair remained by each other's sides until Mercury's death. 

Austin was the first one he told when he was diagnosed with AIDS and when he died in 1991 of AIDS-related bronchial pneumonia at age 45, she was by his side. 

Freddie Mercury and Mary Austin, 1987. Image: Getty.

Mercury did not want to share the details of his illness and instead keep it a private, which Austin supported. She also promised to keep his ashes and place them at a private location that would never be revealed.

He left her half his reported £75 million estate (AU$141 million), including his 28-room west London mansion. She still lives there today.

The contents of his home though was left untouched as a shrine to the superstar, but in April, Austin announced she would be holding an auction of 1,500 of his personal items. 

Of his most beloved possessions are some of his handwritten lyrics and stage costumes.

"The collection takes you deeper within the individual and the man I knew," Austin said to the BBC.

Listen to The Spill, Mamamia's daily entertainment podcast. Post continues after audio. 

Following Mercury's death, Austin remained out of the spotlight and has spoken rarely about his former fiance.

The extraordinary and complicated relationship has long fascinated fans and the media. The events of their lives together recently played out on screen in the 2018 film Bohemian Rhapsody.

"Ours is a pure friendship but friendship of the highest standard," Mercury said. "It's an instinctive thing. I still love her and always will. I know we'll probably grow old together." 

Feature Image: Getty.