After Divorcing George Harrison and Eric Clapton, Pattie Boyd Saw a Psychotherapist to Learn to Believe in Herself
After divorcing George Harrison and Eric Clapton, Pattie Boyd needed to figure herself out. She said she went to a psychotherapist to learn to believe in herself.
Pattie Boyd inspired some of the best rock ‘n’ roll love songs but doesn’t consider herself a muse
It was practically love at first sight for George and Boyd. The then-Beatle prosed to the model/actor on the spot while filming The Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night. Boyd broke up with her boyfriend to date George.
Over the years, she inspired George to write “I Need You” and “If I Needed Someone.” The pair married in 1966. They explored spirituality together and traveled the world. Later, George wrote one of the best love songs, “Something,” for his wife.
Into the 1970s, the couple’s marriage started to disintegrate due to George’s alleged infidelities and other issues. Meanwhile, George’s friend, Eric Clapton, fell in love with Boyd. He wrote her, “Layla.”
The Cream guitarist told George of his love for Boyd at a party, but Boyd didn’t immediately leave George. They remained together for a couple more years. When things got bad, Clapton consoled her. Eventually, she left George for Clapton.
However, their relationship wasn’t always the best either. Two years after formally divorcing George, Boyd married Clapton. Before going out one night, he wrote her another song, “Wonderful Tonight.” Clapton’s alcoholism and infidelities eventually ripped the couple apart, and they divorced in 1989.
Despite having two failed marriages to “giants,” Boyd was the inspiration for many great rock ‘n’ roll love songs. However, Boyd doesn’t think she’s a muse. She told El Pais that the term is narcissistic.
“I’m not a muse,” she said. “I mean, I understand what you’re referring to, but for me, and I say this with complete sincerity, everything is in the hands of the artist. It’s all in their head. They project that on whoever they want, but that’s the artist’s problem.
“Having said that, it makes me really happy to listen to them, but I’m not such a narcissist to believe that they’re talking about me. I don’t believe it.”
Boyd saw a psychotherapist after divorcing George and Clapton
When Boyd thinks back on the times she had being married to George and Clapton, she feels as if it was someone else’s life. Plus, she can’t remember most of it, only the fun parts. “The rest is very far away,” she jokes.
After her two high-profile marriages, Boyd felt out of place. She’d been thrown in the deep end dating a Beatle. No one prepared her for being a Beatle’s wife. Then, that ended and she was dating and marrying another great rock star. Opportunities came to her quicker, but life happened faster.
Suddenly, she was a two-time divorcee and felt like she had no identity. The model/actor recently told The Telegraph that it “took time and experiences to work out who I was.”
The Telegraph wrote, “The trauma of her two divorces hit hard, and her self-esteem crashed.” Boyd explained, “Well, I was no longer Mrs. Famous George, or Mrs. Famous Eric, so who am I? I am no-one. No-one knows me – I don’t even know me.
“I was at a critical point in my life, and so I saw a psychotherapist who was quite wonderful. She was amazing. She guided me out of this mire of despond and gradually I learned to believe in myself.”
Boyd’s book has helped others
Another thing that helped Boyd was writing her memoir, 2007’s Wonderful Tonight. The book debuted at the top of the New York Times Best Seller list. Fans tell Boyd that it’s helped them in their own lives.
“Some girls tell me about going into deep depressions and sadness and then reading my first book, it brought them out and encouraged them to carry on, and realise that life doesn’t have to be all a downward spiral,” Boyd told The Telegraph.
The publication added, “Thriving on a journey of self-discovery, Boyd’s resilience has ensured that she has never been a victim of her own ordeals, something she is keen to prevent girls becoming in today’s often brutal world of social media.”
Boyd is willing to help anyone. “Certainly if I can help any of them, I hope that I do in whatever way that I can.” She might technically be a muse, but Boyd’s legacy is bigger than the songs written about her.
