Pattie, Cynthia, and George in his home in Surrey, Spring of 1965
Photographed by Henry Grossman
Pattie and Cynthia met in March of 1964 while The Beatles were filming A Hard Day's Night. Pattie was in the cast as a schoolgirl; Cynthia occasionally visited the set. By the end of the month, George and Pattie were a couple. The foursome attempted to take their first vacation together in Ireland, but the press was very interested in George's new girlfriend so the vacation was cut short. In May, they tried once again to take a vacation to Tahiti (already posted) with much success to be away from fans and the media scrutiny. During this Tahitian holiday Cynthia and Pattie got to know each other. Pattie and Cynthia shared a tight bond a year later (1965) when they shared the first LSD experience; their dentist invited them and their Beatle companions over for dinner and served after dinner tea, with sugar cubes laced with LSD without their knowledge. It definitely proved to be a tight bond between John and George. In Pattie's autobiography, she wrote that she found it hard to get along with Cynthia as they had little in common. Don't get Pattie (and me) wrong: they did get along very well and I never heard anything ugly between them, no fights, no problems other than how much they didn't have much in common. Which is true, Pattie isn't wrong. Cynthia was almost 5 years older than Pattie. Cynthia had a serious personality while Pattie liked to giggle with her girlfriends. Cynthia was the youngest of her siblings; Pattie was the oldest. Pattie came from a divorced family; Cynthia did not. Pattie had a career; Cynthia did not. It's basically oil and water- impossible to mix together. The only thing Cynthia and Pattie had in common was being in a relationship with a Beatle. Pattie felt Cynthia behaved more like a mother than as a wife to John (yet it's okay for Yoko? John used to call her Mother! Little hypocritical if you ask me). Pattie would occasionally take Cynthia along on shopping trips, but for the most part Pattie would let Cynthia be in her own devices... besides, Cynthia was more closer and relatable with Maureen. Oddly enough, Cynthia and Pattie were closer in age than Cynthia was from Maureen by almost 7 years but I think Maureen had a very similar upbringing as Cynthia and both knew The Beatles as unknowns.
"Pattie and I got on famously. She was friendly bubbly character, a great girl full of fun and boundless enthusiasm, very childlike but in no way immature. She always reminded me of a very beautiful flimsy butterfly. I envied her, her figure, her dress sense and her confidence. Whenever fashions changed Pattie was in there first with all the right gear, looking beautiful as ever. George, I thought, was a lucky fellow. Pattie handled George very well considering their different backgrounds. George's northern bluntness and lack of tact must have been hard to come to terms with in comparison with the smooth southern sophistication of the escorts she would have previously experienced. I liked Pattie very much and it was lovely to have female company once more."
Cynthia, from her book A Twist of Lennon, 1978
"She was blond, beautiful and a sophisticated Londoner, like Jane Asher. But, like the rest of us Beatles girls, she was friendly, too, and easy to get on with. The two Liverpool girls, Maureen and I, and the two London girls, Jane and Pattie, got on well from the beginning. We were all living through the same thing and it was wonderful to have friends to share it with. From the start, it was obvious that Pattie and George were serious, and we were all pleased for them. The other three Beatles were all in happy relationships and until now George had been on his own.
Pattie and I were becoming close friends. I admired her gorgeous figure and perfect fashion sense, and I think she enjoyed the company of someone who'd been with the Beatles from the beginning and knew the ropes. John and George had an easy, comfortable relationship and they headed for the beach while Pattie and I went shopping."
Cynthia, from her book John, 2005
"I liked Cynthia, but of all the Beatle wives and girlfriends I found her the most difficult to make friends with. She and I came from such different backgrounds; she had no career, she was a young mother, and we had no point of reference apart from our attachment to a Beatle. She wasn't like my friends, who enjoyed a giggle and some fun: she was rather serious, and often, I thought, behaved more like John's mother than his wife. I tended to leave her to her own devices but invited her to join me for shopping. I think she felt a bit out of her depth in the smart, sophisticated circles in which the Beatles were now moving in London. And I don't think it helped that John thought I looked like Bridget Bardot, or that I got on so well with him."
Pattie Boyd, 2007
"Cyn, Maureen, and Pattie developed a mutual closeness and understanding that almost paralleled that of the Beatles themselves. The odd woman out was Paul’s fiancé, Jane Asher, an aristocratic London redhead who seemed to feel that she was cut from somewhat finer cloth than the other Beatle ladies."
Pete Shotton, 1983
"When Cynthia, Maureen, and Pattie got together it was usually in the kitchen, for many cups of tea or coffee if it was middle of the day or several bottles of win if it was the afternoon. There were two main types of topic for discussion among this close-knit clique: family gossip that circulated solely within The Beatles' own tight inner circle and the wider issues that arose from sometimes scandalous rumors that was rife among the group's fans. I saw this group as the glue that helped to hold The Beatles' marriages together at least for the time being. To share happiness and sorrow, success and disappointment, was a good way of patching up the cracks as soon as they appeared. As part of such a warm and secure little group they felt more at ease than if they had been dealing with the traumas and crises of their extraordinary lives on their own. But for the sharing of information on the perks, pitfalls, problems, and sheer insanity of successfully partnering a Beatle, the womanfolk might have teetered on the brink of despair or simply broken free even sooner than they did. It is to their credit that these faithful first partners kept their lives so private over the years. The media would have agreed to almost any conditions to get their individual stories, but I was never allowed to fix any interviews or photo shoots for the women other than at general photo calls for show business functions or exclusive pictures to mark weddings and births."
Tony Barrow, 2005
Pattie and Cynthia
Both Cynthia and Pattie have said that Cynthia felt out of her depth while living in London, perhaps a little envious of Pattie for being a model and being able to socialize with upper class society. However, I do think the closest Cynthia and Pattie were was in 1967 when it seemed they were almost inseparable and it was during the time Maureen was expecting her second child (Jason); While their husbands worked on Sgt. Pepper, Pattie and Cynthia went on a quick weekend getaway to Paris. During the Maharishi period while in India, Pattie and Cynthia were there from the start until the abrupt end- Maureen lasted 10 days because she couldn't stand the insects and Jane wasn't all that interested. By the end of 1968, Pattie and Cynthia had barely any interaction after Cynthia as divorce from John. There were very few encounters (including a housewarming party Cynthia threw with her new husband Roberto Bassanini) until around 1973 when a communication mishap brought them together: their phone lines happened to crossed and Cynthia recognized Pattie's voice... Ah, I remember that... before cell phones. Occasionally while talking to someone on the "landline", I would hear a 3rd party cutting in. It did happened. Anyway, that mishap helped mend their friendship and they got together before Cynthia took Julian to America to reconnect him with John. By that time, Pattie's marriage with George was over and she took on another whirlwind adventure with Eric Clapton until 1989. During her marriage to Eric, Pattie and Cynthia saw each other at a Nordoff-Robbins Musical Therapy Trust charity event in London in June of 1985 after several years of distance. They were also at another charity event in 1988 with Ringo and his wife Barbara Bach. After Pattie divorced Eric, I believe the next public appearance was the London premiere of Backbeat in March of 1994. In November of 2009, Cynthia and Pattie held a joint book event for their autobiographies in Yerevan, Armenia. Their last known public appearance together was in September of 2010 for Julian's first photography exhibition, Timeless, in New York City. Until Cynthia's death in 2015, they kept in touch and saw each other while in their vicinity. Whenever they see each other, it's like no time had passed and I do think there was more public and private gatherings that I either don't know about or it's not coming to me for the moment, however take my word for it. After Cynthia's death, it's obvious that Pattie does miss Cynthia very much and thinks of her fondly and caring.
“On and off when we’re in the vicinity. It’s so difficult to catch anyone. If I’m here in London, Maureen’s in Los Angeles, and Pattie’s somewhere else. It’s a miracle when we do get together. But when we do, it seems time has stood still.”
Cynthia, 1991
“We have survived. We have lost so many people along the way.”
Cynthia, 2009
John, George, and Pattie in India, 1968
While I'm on the subject of Pattie, I might as well dive in a bit on the relationship between her and John: Overall they liked each other. When Pattie had a recurring eye sty during both vacations to Ireland and Tahiti, John teased her. His nickname for her was 'Battie'. There had been numerous reports that John and Pattie had an affair- I think it sparked from the Magical Mystery Tour dress up party as Pattie was dressed like a belly dancer and John was all over her, dancing. However, Pattie always deny it, even after Cynthia's death, and I do believe her.
"There was a rumor- I don't know where it came from- that John and I had an affair, and I suppose Cynthia may have believed there was something in it. It was completely untrue: we never had an affair. I wouldn't have dreamed of it and neither, I am sure, would John."
Pattie Boyd, 2007
"No way! Cynthia was a very sweet girl. I think when they moved from Liverpool she felt out of her depth. I tried to encourage her to come to London from their home in Surrey but she never really wanted to."
Pattie Boyd, 2018
I'm not too sure when Pattie last saw John; presumably during the time when Pattie began her life with Eric Clapton. When she and Eric got married in March of 1979, they had a wedding celebration in May in England where George, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr got up the stage and jam... it was the first Beatles reunion since the breakup. Unfortunately, John wasn't there. Pattie thought he was stuck in America and couldn't leave the country; for a time, that was true but John did receive his green card in 1976 and was able to leave and return to America whenever he wanted. I suppose Pattie didn't know that... let's say it's not often John and Pattie chatted on the phone. Anyway, when John heard what had happened, he expressed interest of attending if he had known about it. When Pattie later heard that, obviously it was heartbreaking.
"I did feel remorseful afterwards that I hadn't invited John to our wedding party, but I knew he wouldn't come. He was living in America at the time, and the authorities were threatening not to allow him back in if he left the country."
Pattie Boyd, 2004
"John felt he couldn’t come because he thought if he left America they wouldn’t let him back in, and it was important for him to be in America."
Pattie Boyd, 2018
After an argument with Eric, Pattie went to bed in a separate bedroom. In the early hours of December 9, 1980 after hearing the news, Eric woke Pattie up to inform her the news of John Lennon's death. Pattie went to Apple Corps in Savile Row to mourn.
“I had heard about John’s death from Eric. He and I had been arguing and had spent the night in separate rooms. The next morning – 9 December 1980 – he came to wake me with the news that John had been shot dead in New York. I was appalled. I left Eric in Ewhurst and went to London, to the Beatles’ office, and hung out with everybody there. I had no idea how to get in touch with Yoko, or where she was, but the offices in Savile Row were the heart and soul of what had been the Beatles’ kingdom. That day it was where I wanted to be.”
Pattie Boyd, 2007
"John was always fun to be around. He had a certain energy and was super talented, quite wonderful."
Pattie Boyd, 2004
"I was around John Lennon a fair bit, too. He was exciting but could be a bit scary."
Pattie Boyd, 2018
"The John Lennon I knew was respectful, gentle and kind. He was always gracious to me and I have treasured memories of us all being together during Beatlemania and beyond. Thinking of him today."
Pattie Boyd, October 9, 2020
“John was great fun, if a little scary because you would never know what he was going to say, but he was fascinating, riveting, clearly the leader. He was very attractive, very sexy, and I loved that he thought that I looked like Brigitte Bardot. He was very cool.”
Pattie Boyd, 2018
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