Of course, Bowie turned up much later in the Queen story for Under Pressure on the 1982's Hot Space album. Is there any truth to the story that you never liked Another One Bites The Dust and the funky musical direction on the Hot Space album…

Well, I actually helped John [Deacon] put Another One Bites The Dust together. But, no, that style of music wasn't my kind of thing. As I remember, it was Michael Jackson, in our dressing room, who first said we should release it as a single. I thought he was mad - turns out I was right - but I really couldn't see it as a single. But then the urban stations in the US picked it up, and so it had to be a single - and it sold about four million copies in America. How delightfully wrong can you be? But it wasn't where I was at, no. I always thought Hot Space was the worst album cover we eve did. Freddie and I thought it was going to be great, and it was absolute shit.

Have you watched the DVD from that era [Queen On Fire Live At Milton Keynes Bowl]?

Yes, and I was pleasantly surprised by all the energy. Backchat and Staying Power had a life of their own. I think we got bogged down in the studio. There was always a new machine back then - and they were all out of date and being used as coffee tables within six months. Blame the '80s [laughs]. There was a lot of awful dreadful shit in the '80s.

Brian May once told us you are much better at being a rock star than he is…

Oh well, that's not true. I'd put it the other way. I'm much more low-key than Brian. Come on, when you are a prisoner of your own hair… [laughs]. Brian and I are great friends - better than we have ever been. Perhaps he means that I was a bit more attuned to that aspiration - of wanting to be a rock star.

Drink in hand, blonde model nearby…

Oh, God, am I a cliché? [laughs] I always felt it was my job to enjoy myself. I wanted to have a good time. People know more than pundits anyway. To be the darling of the critics is the kiss of death, which is probably why we were still alive.

Would it be fair to say, though, that out of the four, you and Freddie were Queen's party animals?

That's a bit of a generalisation, because we all had fun. [Pauses] Fred and I were the party end, if you like. But people imagine there was a party every night. And it just wasn't like that. I've also always been very protective of my private life. People forget that in the '70s however successful you were there was very little interest even in the tabloids in rock 'n' roll people. That all changed with [Rupert] Murdoch, when he realised they could sell their scum-ridden rags by featuring musicians. But that came much later for Queen. Mercifully, we were free of such publicity for most of the time.

You're not a fan of newspapers then?

No, I don't have newspapers. You are reading somebody else's opinion after the fact. Why read papers, when you have TV, radio… even the horrible internet [laughs].

Of course, Freddie's sexuality would have splashed across the tabloids much more had they shown an interest in the '70s. Did it come as a shock to you to find out he was gay?

It quite shocked me when I saw it at the time [laughs].

Did you ever balk at some of Freddie's more flamboyant ideas for Queen videos?

Well, I hated It's A Hard Life. Most videos were regarded as a complete chore. The only one we enjoyed and didn't stop laughing at was I Want To Break Free. Initially, the idea was to do a take on Coronation Street - then Fred had to get the royal ballet in as well [laughs]. But no one refused to do it. There were no dissenters. We were all up for it.

Of course, your own performance in the video [as a pig-tailed schoolgirl] caused some shock and consternation among young men of a certain age.

It quite shocked me when I saw it at the time [laughs].

Had Freddie lived, do you think Queen would have carried on for much longer?

I'd like to think we would still be going, because we did enjoy it. Who knows? In a strange way, Freddie being frozen in time almost continues things for Queen. I wonder, would Elvis have had all these Number 1s if he'd lived.

Would Freddie have approved of Queen going back on the road with Paul Rodgers?

He would love it [he says, immediately], because Paul was genuinely one of Fred's all-time favourite singers. We even had an old Queen song which was very much based on Free, called Hangman. It had that spare blues riff thing that was very much Free's forte.

How surprised would you have been if John Deacon had asked to do this tour?

I would have been very pleasantly surprised, but knowing John, it wouldn't happen. I haven't spoken to him for about a year. He has decided to hide away - and I respect that. I think he was a little more fragile and not as well equipped to deal with the rough and tumble of everyday existence. He prefers not to undergo the stress of it all. He'd never stop us using the Queen name. We wondered, when we started the musical. But John told us he liked it, he approved.

Finally, then: what would you say to anyone wondering how Paul Rodgers can go out and sing with Queen?

I tell you, Paul's voice is extraordinary. We have a difficult canon or songs and I know that from auditioning people for the musical. A lot of it is in very high keys. Few singers can reach Freddie's notes but he can. Believe me, Paul's got it.