Freddie Mercury with Mary Austin (Picture: Rex Features)

Never-before-seen pictures of Queen singer Freddie Mercury have been released by friend and bandmate Brian May.

The images, taken while the band were touring in the 1970s and 80s, show the Bohemian Rhapsody singer alongside Mary Austin, a woman who Mercury often referred to as his ‘wife’ an to whom he once proposed.

Freddie once proposed to Mary (Picture: Brian May)

The romance is a main storyline in upcoming biopic movie Bohemian Rhapsody, which is due for release on October 24.

The film, produced by Brian May and bandmate Roger Taylor, stars Rami Malek as tragic singer Mercury, who died from AIDS-related illnesses in 1991.

It will shed light on Mercury’s relationship with Mary, who inherited his Kensington mansion after his death, and still lives there now.

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

The pair were close, despite Freddie’s well-publicised relationships with men (Picture: Rex Features)

The Don’t Stop Me Now singer was known for his camp performances, and confessed he was ‘bisexual’ in 1976.

Mary once said: ‘I’ll never forget that moment. I remember saying to him, ‘No Freddie, I don’t think you are bisexual. I think you are gay’.’

Following his untimely death, Mary scattered his ashes secretly and has never revealed the location.

Freddie tragically died in 1991 (Picture: Rex Features)

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Gary Langan, who worked closely with the band on Bohemian Rhapsody, told Metro that the upcoming film is the perfect tribute to the great showman.

‘I’ve seen clips of [the movie],’ he confessed. ‘I think it’s going to be great, it can’t be anything else but great, it has to be. The subject matter is so great it’ll be even greater.’

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