Freddie Mercury and Mary Austin's relationship was 'like a marriage' with his lover hailing their 'eternal love' being he died.
The Queen front man was linked with Mary for six years and the pair remained close friends until the singer died in 1991 from complications brought on by AIDS.
Mary has spoken emotionally about the much-loved singer since he passed away and gave an incredible insight into their relationship during an interview with OK! Magazine in 2000, nine years after his death.
Mary said the months after Freddie's passing were "the loneliest and most difficult time of my life."
She revealed that her loss was deeper that a friend passing, saying: “I lost somebody who I thought was my eternal love."
Explaining why she felt that way, Mary added: "When he died I felt we'd had a marriage. We'd lived our vows. We'd done it for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health.
“You could never have let go of Freddie unless he died - and even then it was difficult."
Mary also spoke about Freddie's final days and how he "chose the time to die," before stopping taking his medication.
Recalling those "distressing" final days, Mary said: "The quality of his life had changed so dramatically and he was in more pain every day."
She continued: "He was losing his sight. His body became weaker as he suffered mild fits.
“One day he decided enough was enough and stopped all the medical supplements that were keeping him going.”
Mary revealed that Freddie passed away "with a smile on his face," with close friend Dave Clark, of the Dave Clark Five by his bedside.
Another celebrity pal, Elton John, has also spoken out about Freddie's final moments and how he visited the star as he prepared to die.
In his new autobiography, Me, Elton wrote: "I visited him a lot when he was dying, although I could never stay for much longer than an hour.
“It was too upsetting — I didn’t think he wanted me to see him like that.
"Someone so vibrant and so necessary, someone that would have got better with age and gone from strength to strength, dying in such a horrible, arbitrary way.”
Elton continued, writing that Freddie's sense of humour and love of gossiping was prevalent to his final moments.
He wrote: "He was too frail to get out of bed, he was losing his sight, his body was covered in Karposi’s sarcoma lesions, and yet he was still definitely Freddie, gossiping away, completely outrageous."
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