Jim said: “Freddie treated the cats like his own children. He would constantly fuss over them, and if any of them came to any harm when Freddie was away, heaven help us.

“During the day, the cats had the run of the house and grounds, and at night, one of us would round them up and bring them inside.”

Freddie even dedicated his solo album, Mr Bad Guy, to them: “To my cat Jerry — also Tom, Oscar and Tiffany, and all the cat lovers across the universe—screw everybody else.”

He commissioned artist Ann Ortman to paint all his cats over the years and the artwork for the album Innuendo shows the Queen frontman with three cats wrapped around his head and neck.

And for his final video shoot for the These Are the Days of Our Lives, he wore his favourite waistcoat, a 1990 Christmas gift which was screen-printed with his cats.