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During a formal dinner, Queen Elizabeth II and a former German MEP found they shared a love of The Beatles. The queen had given the group MBEs in 1965, and the former MEP, Hans-Olaf Henkel, had known the band during their residency in Hamburg, Germany. According to Henkel, Queen Elizabeth II also expressed her sympathies for one member of the Fab Four, George Harrison, who had recently survived a near-fatal home invasion.

Queen Elizabeth II in 2000 | John Shelley Collection/Avalon/Getty Images

Henkel and the queen both loved The Beatles

Following the queen’s funeral, Henkel told Express about the time he met and spoke to Her Majesty at a formal dinner in 2000.

Henkel, who recently stepped down from the European Parliament in 2019, explained he used to date photographer Astrid Kirchherr, one of The Beatles’ friends in Hamburg, Germany. Kirchherr was later the girlfriend of the group’s one-time bass player Stuart Sutcliffe.

While The Beatles had their residency in Hamburg, Henkel met the band many times. A couple of years later, The Beatles became one of the world’s most famous rock ‘n’ roll bands. Later, the queen recognized them for their work by awarding them MBEs in 1965. Fast forward 40 years, Henkel’s ties with the Fab Four got him a place at the queen’s table at a formal dinner.

“It was in 2000 that the Queen came to Berlin to officially open the new British Embassy in Berlin,” Henkel said. “At that time I was President of the Federation of German Industries (BDI), roughly the equivalent of the British CBI. Much to my surprise the British Ambassador to Germany, Sir Paul Lever, invited my wife and me to a dinner in honour of the Queen at his residence at Berlin-Grunewald.”

Henkel added there were only 12 other guests at the dinner, including the queen and her husband, Prince Philip. He began to wonder why he and his wife had been included in this intimate party.

“Only after Sir Paul introduced us to the Queen and Prince Philip was it that I realised why he chose my wife and me to attend this truly exclusive event: he had previously read my biography and discovered that I had frequently met The Beatles in Hamburg’s rock clubs in 1961 and 1962.”

Queen Elizabeth II expressed her sympathies for George Harrison following his 1999 home invasion

When Lever introduced Henkel to the queen, he mentioned Henkel’s position in the German Industry, his position as President of IBM Europe, and his connection with The Beatles. Then, the queen surprised Henkel by speaking of her love of the Fab Four.

“To my great surprise she immediately connected with me on The Beatles and not at all on my at-that-time rather prominent position in Germany’s industry!” Henkel said.

“We had a delightful conversation about the group. She was not only totally well informed about Hamburg’s role in the Beatles’ career, she also told us herself how much she liked their music.”

Then, Queen Elizabeth II surprised the former MEP further by expressing her concerns for George following his 1999 home invasion.

“Not only that, she described herself in a rather precise way about an attack by a burglar on The Beatles’ lead guitarist George Harrison at his residence, who according to her suffered serious injuries,” Henkel explained. “She described the event with a lot of sympathy on one hand and with quite a precision on the other.

“We were absolutely stunned to realise that the Queen had such detailed knowledge of Harrison’s fate and that she shared her knowledge and her personal grievance with us.”

George and his wife, Olivia, had survived a near-fatal attack during a home invasion. Michael Abram snuck onto their property and threw a piece of a statue through a window. Abram then shouted for the couple to come downstairs, which George did to protect his family.

The Beatle and the assailant then engaged in a physical altercation. George sustained multiple stab wounds. Then, Olivia grabbed a fireplace poker and hit Abram over the head. George almost died.

If what Henkel said is true, it’s touching that the queen was concerned about George’s horrible brush with death.

Related

Badfinger’s Joey Molland Said George Harrison Would ‘Close up and Walk Away’ if Someone Treated Him Like a Beatle

Queen Elizabeth II offered George an OBE, but he declined it

Maybe if George knew about the queen’s concern, he would’ve been more inclined to receive an OBE from her. According to Billboard, George rejected the honor the same year the queen spoke about him to Henkel at the dinner.

According to Smooth Radio, journalist Ray Connolly, who knew The Beatles well, claimed George rejected the OBE because he was insulted by not receiving a knighthood as Paul got in 1997.

Connolly told the Mail on Sunday, “Whoever it was who decided to offer him the OBE and not the knighthood was extraordinarily insensitive. George would have felt insulted – and with very good reason.”

However, this is unlikely. George just hated adulation and therefore didn’t want or need awards.

Still, one can’t help but imagine what Queen Elizabeth II and George would’ve talked about during the investiture ceremony. They would’ve had an interesting conversation.

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