Pattie Boyd Said George Harrison Brought Home ‘Bad Vibes’ Because of The Beatles
When Pattie Boyd and George Harrison began to experience cracks in their relationship, The Beatles also dealt with a fraught dynamic. Harrison grew weary of touring and the pressures of fame, and the band fought more and more frequently. According to Boyd, Harrison brought home a lot of stress after band meetings. It began to impact their marriage.
The Beatles’ manager had to work to avoid arguments
During breaks between The Beatles’ busy touring and recording schedule, their manager Brian Epstein organized vacations for the band.
“In May Brian arranged a holiday for us all,” Boyd wrote in the book Wonderful Tonight. “He split us up into fours, and that was usually the way we holidayed from then on. Paul and Jane, Ringo and Maureen went off to the Virgin Islands, while John and Cynthia, George and I went to Tahiti, where we planned to spend four weeks island-hopping on a boat.”
Epstein broke up the band into groups in order to avoid fights.
“It was a good way to split the group,” she explained. “John and Paul were the closest in some ways and immensely creative together, but they clashed if they were in each other’s pockets for too long.”
Pattie Boyd said George Harrison often came home in a bad mood
In the time leading up to The Beatles’ breakup, tensions between the band grew increasingly fraught. They were frequently fighting, and Harrison, in particular, had grown weary of the demands of being in the band. This pressure began to impact his marriage.
“George was working very hard, things were not going well with the Beatles, and he was bringing home bad vibes,” Boyd explained. “We would argue and bicker, never reaching any conclusion, so we were left feeling irritated with one another. He spent more and more time away from home — sometimes he wouldn’t get back until four or five in the morning, at others not at all.”
Boyd had taken a step back from her modeling career at Harrison’s insistence, and she began to feel isolated and alone.
“My diary is full of entries about my unhappiness and the disintegration of our relationship,” she wrote. “On July 24 it simply says, ‘Silence reigns and my cheeks get wet.’ I felt so helpless.”
Pattie Boyd and George Harrison eventually divorced
After Boyd arrived late to a New Year’s Eve party, Harrison dropped the bombshell that he wanted a divorce.
“When I finally arrived George said, ‘Let’s have a divorce this year,'” she wrote. “On our wedding anniversary, January 21, 1974, I wrote in my diary: ‘Wedding anniversary. Joke!'”
Boyd went on to marry Eric Clapton in 1979. The dynamic was complicated — Clapton and Harrison were good friends — but they maintained a relationship. Boyd knew Harrison had forgiven her when he sent her a note that read, “E+P God Bless Us All, love from G.”
“George’s note was like a forgiveness,” she said, per the Daily Mail. “It meant a lot to me. I didn’t feel great about leaving him and it showed me he was happy. It was as if the hurt had finally been accepted and healed.”
