United Kingdom, Sept. 1 -- Freddie Mercury used to "stay out of the sun" to hide his Indian roots.

The late Queen icon, who died in November 1991, was born in Zanzibar to Indian parents, and his former lover and best friend Mary Austin has explained how he would try to keep it a secret.

She told The Guardian newspaper: "He hid that well."

Asked if Mercury was "passing as white English", she replied: "Yes. He'd stay out of the sun because his skin would darken, and he didn't want that.

"With Freddie, you just saw what he wanted you to see.

"He'd get stopped in the street by police and they said, where are you from, and when he said Bombay they arrested him, because they thought he was taking the proverbial."

The 75-year-old former sh...