‘Freddie had a lot to do with dressing Brian,’ says Chris Smith.

Arriving at Kensington Market, Smith found Freddie standing behind the stall in his new stage outfit, arms outstreched, while a woman was fussing over the pleated wings. ‘When she stood up it turned out to be Zandra Rhodes (the designer),’ he says. ‘At which point Freddie dramatically announces, “And Brian’s got one, too!” ‘

“He obviously had an eye and could see the potential,” says Zandra Rhodes.

“I was working out of my little attic in Porchester Road in Bayswater at the time. And one day Freddie rang me. I didn’t really know who he was then. He said he and Brian wanted outfits for a big show,” recalling the day she met the two. “They both turned up about 7 o’clock one night, clattering up three flights of stairs in their platform boots,”

“There were rails and rails of all my designs and Freddie tried a few things on and paraded up and down. He would hold things in front of Brian, and just waft around the room. He and Brian were lovely, very discreet and charming.”