"I'd rather have a cat" - Freddie Mercury on having children

Freddie Mercury's cats brought him enormous joy throughout his life, and they were there on his bed to the very end. Stroking them was one of the last things he could do. His "princess" was his favourite, who he wrote a song about who was by his side in the last-known picture of the Queen star.

Freddie's long-term girlfriend Mary Austin bought them the first pair of cats in the early 1970s. Tom and Jerry were followed through the years by Tiffany, Dorothy, Delilah, Goliath, Lily, Miko, Oscar, and Romeo. The cats would receive their own stockings at Christmas and when Freddie was on tour he would call home and Mary or his personal assistant Peter Freestone would hold the cats up to the receiver.