What Happened When George Harrison Told Ringo Starr ‘I’m in Love with Your Wife’
George Harrison's ex Pattie Boyd remembers the Beatle's affair
George Harrison's ex-wife Pattie Boyd remembers the Beatle's shocking affair with his former bandmate Ringo Starr's wife in an excerpt from Philip Norman's new biography George Harrison: The Reluctant Beatle, published by the Daily Mail.
Boyd recalled Maureen Starkey, the mother of Ringo's three children, visiting their Friar Park mansion late at night in 1973, on the pretext of "listening to George in the studio," and staying until the morning.
"Her attitude was very much that she had the right to spend the night with George if she felt like it," Boyd said.
On one occasion, the two of them disappeared upstairs together during the day while musicians were waiting to record with Harrison. "I thought: 'This is being deliberately rubbed in my face. He and Maureen want me to know this is happening,'" Boyd said.
Boyd knocked on the door, and George opened it to reveal Ringo's wife on a mattress on the floor. "Oh, she's a bit tired," he said. "She's having a rest."
Ringo refused to listen when Boyd tried to tell him what was going on, but he had to confront reality when the two couples dined together at Ringo and Maureen's Tittenhurst Park home and Harrison bluntly told him: "I'm in love with your wife."
After staring at Harrison in silence, Ringo replied, "Better you than someone we don't know."
Although the affair, which John Lennon described as "virtual incest," fizzled out, both couples soon divorced.
Boyd went on to marry Harrison's close friend Eric Clapton, who had pursued her for years and even participated in a guitar "duel" with Harrison for her affection.
"I have to tell you, man, I'm in love with your wife," Clapton told Harrison after writing the song "Layla" about Boyd.
Harrison simply asked Boyd where she planned to sleep that night. "I'm coming home with you, George," she said.
