George Harrison Once Told This Princess to Leave a Party so The Beatles Could Eat
The press should have dubbed George Harrison “the cheeky Beatle” instead of “the quiet Beatle” because he always had some audacious comment for any occasion. When The Beatles first met their producer George Martin, George boldly told him he didn’t appreciate Martin’s tie. In interviews, George was quiet for the most part until he came out with some witty remark. This skill of his came in handy when The Beatles found themselves hungry at a party. A certain princess in attendance had overstayed her welcome, and George had no problems telling her to leave so he and his bandmates could eat.
George Harrison told Princess Margaret to leave a party so The Beatles could go get some food
The Beatles were actually quite popular amongst the royals. Prince Philip called them “good chaps,” and Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, said they were “fresh and vital. I simply adore them.” But one of the more free-spirited royals loved them the most.
The Beatles first met Princess Margaret in 1964 at the premiere of their first film, A Hard Day’s Night. She attended the premiere and the after-party, held at the Dorchester Hotel, with her husband Lord Snowdon and her entourage. They all partied late into the night until George realized he was getting a bit hungry. So he approached Walter Shenson, the film’s producer, and asked, “When are we going to eat?”
According to the Liverpool Echo, Shenson told George that he and The Beatles couldn’t possibly eat until Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon had left. “Just be patient,” Shenson said. But George didn’t want to be patient; he’d already waited a long time. So he took matters into his own hands.
After another 15 minutes, George brashly walked up to Princess Margaret and said, “Your Highness, we really are hungry and we can’t eat until you two go.” The royal, thankfully, was cool about it and said, “I see. Well, in that case, we’d better run.”
The Beatles crossed paths with Princess Margaret a couple more times
Clearly, George’s comments didn’t change Princess Margaret’s opinions of The Fab Four. In 1965, she awarded The Beatles with another Carl-Alan Award, which her brother-in-law had the honors of doing the previous year. However, The Beatles manager Brian Epstein collected the award on their behalf.
After that, Princess Margaret crossed paths with The Beatles a couple more times. She attended the band’s second film, Help!, in 1965, although this time she didn’t attend the after-party, much to The Beatles’ stomach’s pleasure. Four years later, she made an unscheduled visit to Twickenham Film Studios to watch Ringo Starr and Peter Sellers during the filming of The Magic Christian.
The royal stayed on set for most of the day, from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m., and spoke to Paul McCartney for a lengthy period. But who wouldn’t want to talk to a Beatle for most of the afternoon? More importantly, who wouldn’t want to speak to one of the most radical royals of the time?
George Harrison couldn’t understand why the queen awarded The Beatles with MBEs
When Buckingham Palace announced that the queen would be awarding The Beatles with MBEs (Member of the Order of the British Empire), George couldn’t wrap his head around it.
During a press conference discussing the announcement, George told the press that he “didn’t think you got that sort of thing, just for playing rock ‘n’ roll music.” However, when the press asked him whether or not he thought The Beatles deserved such an honor, George replied, “It’s not up to us to say that. The Queen must have thought so, or she wouldn’t have given them to us, would she?”
At the end of the conference, the press asked The Beatles where they planned on keeping their award. George had yet another witty remark. He said, “Hang it on the wall.”
