Freddie Mercury’s hotpants fetch huge sum at auction as over 1,000 items belonging to Queen singer set to sell for £6m
A PAIR of skin-tight leather hotpants belonging to Queen singer Freddie Mercury have sold for £14,500.
The tiny tailored trunks were worn by the charismatic frontman at a gig in Birmingham in 1980.
Queen fan club secretary Jacky Gunn wrote in her book Queen: As It Began: “Freddie decided to try to shock the audience with his stage outfit for the encore: the shortest, tightest pair of black leather shorts he could find.
“They didn’t leave much to the imagination, but no one complained.”
The 14in wide and 10in long shorts were sold at Omega Auctions in Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside, yesterday.
Auctioneer’s fees took the total paid by an anonymous buyer to £18,675.
Meanwhile, more than 1,500 items once owned by Freddie are expected to fetch in excess of £6million later this year.
They include a Tiffany & Co silver moustache comb, star-shaped sunglasses, an old telephone, a guitar, a military jacket and a crown and robe.
The collection belongs to Mary Austin, 72, a close friend of Freddie, who left his West London house and its contents to her when he died in 1991.
The sale is at Sotheby’s in London in September.