Freddie Mercury childhood home given heritage order

The former home of Freddie Mercury in Feltham, West London, will soon have a Blue Heritage Plaque.

The plaques have been installed on over 900 spots around London to mark places of historical interest. The program has been in place since 1866 and is now administered by English Heritage.

For Mercury, the Feltham home was one that his family moved into in 1964 when Freddie was 17. His family had fled their home in Zanzibar, where Mercury was born, because of a revolution and settled in England.

Feltham is also the location of a star shaped memorial that was unveiled a number of years ago by Brian May at the local shopping center. Since that time, fans have destroyed the memorial and it has been replaced with a smaller version on the town's high street.

Also receiving Blue Plaques this year are the residences of Ava Gardner, Bobby Moore (soccer), Samuel Beckett, Elizabeth David (writer), Margot Fonteyn (dancer), Tommy Cooper (magician) and Laurie Cunningham (soccer).