NY Bloger

Alexander McQueen, whose sudden death plunged the fashion world into mourning, had the name of a secret lover tattooed on his arm.

McQueen, who it is believed committed suicide, was dropped by the man, an Australian, before his death, according to a report in the UK Daily Star.

McQueen, 40, who was reportedly found hanged in his Mayfair apartment, had earlier told the Australian edition of Harper’s Bazaar: “He was a bastard who went back to Australia and I was left looking at his name.”

The editor of the magazine, Edwina McCann, said pictures taken after McQueen’s men’s collection was unveiled in Milan did not reveal the man’s name and McQueen never identified him.

McQueen, pictured here with one of his biggest fans, Sarah Jessica Parker, was said to be reeling from the death of his mother Joyce, to whom he was exceptionally close, and who died just days before the suicide. The McQueen family buried Joyce in Hornchurch, Essex. Alexander’s brother Michael, 49, said: “We are grieving. It is just so raw. Everyone is too upset to say anything.”

A source close to dad Ronald added: “He is very emotional. The family want people to leave them in peace.”

McQueen was found hanged in his £2million flat in London’s Mayfair on Thursday.

Tributes have flooded in from around the world, with flowers left at his boutiques in London, New York and Los Angeles.

London Fashion Week will mark his death when it opens next Friday.