Recommendations of the Editorial team
A photo published on Instagram supposedly shows the last Freddie Mercury, taken for Thanksgiving. The picture is said to have been taken in 1989 at the Queen singer’s home at One Garden Lodge, West Kensington, in London. The reference “last Thanksgiving photo” is important because there were of course still photos taken after 1989, including those that show the musician after the outbreak of the AIDS disease. He still looks healthy here.
The photo shows Mercury with Joe Fanelli, who worked as a chef in the singer’s home. Just three months later, when Mercury accepted a Brit Award, the traces of the illness were clearly visible on him.
Freddie Mercury on Instagram:
The picture is captioned as follows: “Generally Freddie would use any excuse to have a party. I remember a few times when there wasn’t a tour that Joe reminded Freddie about Thanksgiving and Freddie would lay on a traditional dinner for friends. As Freddie was staunchly British, the celebration didn’t have the same gravitas as it did in USA, but he still enjoyed himself.”
-Peter Freestone
?PS Don’t you just love it when Freddie’s whole face brightens up with his own brand of contagious laughter all natural and genuinely happy like that? ?”
(Peter Freestone was Mercury’s assistant)
“In general, Freddie would use any excuse to have a party. I remember a few times, when there was no tour, that Joe would remind Freddie of Thanksgiving and Freddie would host a traditional meal for friends. Since Freddie was a staunch Brit, the celebration didn’t have the same significance as in the US, but he still had fun.”
-Peter Freestone
PS Don’t you love it when Freddie’s whole face lights up with his own infectious laugh, all natural and genuinely happy? ?”