Personal relationships of Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney had numerous relationships during his early life in Liverpool, and during his time with The Beatles. He was engaged to Dot Rhone, actress Jane Asher, and married three times, to Linda Eastman, Heather Mills and Nancy Shevell.

McCartney had a three-year relationship with Dot Rhone in Liverpool, buying her a gold ring in Hamburg. In London, McCartney had a five-year relationship with Asher, living in her parents' house for three years. He wrote several songs at the Ashers' house, including "Yesterday". Asher inspired other songs, such as "And I Love Her", "You Won't See Me" and "I'm Looking Through You". On 25 December 1967 they announced their engagement, but separated in early 1968. McCartney met American photographer Linda Eastman in a club in London while still with Asher. They met again at the launch party for the Sgt. Pepper album. In May 1968, McCartney met Eastman again in New York, and they were married on 12 March 1969. They had three children together, and remained married until her death from breast cancer in 1998.

McCartney appeared publicly beside Heather Mills at a party in January 2000, to celebrate her 32nd birthday. On 11 June 2002, they were married at Castle Leslie in Glaslough, Ireland. They had one child, Beatrice, in 2003, but were living apart by May 2006. In July 2006, British newspapers announced that McCartney had petitioned for divorce. On 17 March 2008, the financial terms of the divorce were finalised, which awarded Mills £24.3 million ($38.5 million). McCartney has been dating Nancy Shevell since November 2007, who is a member of the board of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, as well as vice president of a family-owned New England Motor Freight. It was announced on 6 May 2011 that the two had become engaged, and they married in London on 9 October 2011.

Early relationships

McCartney and Rhone in 1960

One of McCartney's first girlfriends, in 1959, was called Layla; a name he remembered as being unusual in Liverpool at the time.^[1] She was slightly older than McCartney and used to ask him to baby-sit with her. Julie Arthur, another girlfriend, was Ted Ray's niece.^[1]

McCartney's first serious girlfriend in Liverpool was 17-year-old Dorothy "Dot" Rhone (a bank clerk or a cashier at a chemist's, according to varying accounts),^[2] whom he had met at The Casbah Club in 1959.^[3][4] McCartney picked out the clothes he liked Rhone to wear and told her which make-up to use, also paying for her to have her blonde hair done in the style of Brigitte Bardot, whom both he and John Lennon idolised.^[5] He disliked Rhone seeing her friends, and stopped her from smoking, even though he did so himself.^[6] When McCartney first went to Hamburg with The Beatles he wrote regular letters to Rhone, and she accompanied Lennon's girlfriend, Cynthia Lennon to Hamburg when the group played there again in 1962.^[7] According to Rhone, McCartney bought her a gold ring in Hamburg, a leather skirt, took her sightseeing, and was very attentive and caring.^[8][9] For the time Rhone was there, the couple lived in a bungalow by the Hamburg docks that belonged to Rosa, a former cleaner at the Indra club.^[10] McCartney admitted that he had other girlfriends in Hamburg when Rhone was in Liverpool,^[6] admitting that they were usually "strippers," who knew a lot more about sex than Liverpool girls.^[11]

Rhone later rented a room in the same house as Cynthia Lennon was living,^[12] with McCartney contributing to the rent.^[13] Shortly after McCartney returned from Hamburg in May 1962, Rhone told him that she was pregnant. They told McCartney's father, Jim McCartney, whom they expected to be shocked at the news, but found him delighted at the prospect of becoming a grandfather. McCartney took out a marriage licence and set the wedding date for November, shortly before the baby was due.^[14] Rhone had a miscarriage in July 1962, and after a few weeks, McCartney's feelings towards Rhone "cooled off", and he finished their relationship.^[15]

He then had a brief relationship with Thelma Pickles, who had previously dated Lennon. She later married Liverpool poet Roger McGough, but remembered McCartney as growing from a "plump young schoolboy into someone very much his own person" during their time together.^[16] McCartney also had a stormy "on-off" relationship with Iris Caldwell, the younger sister of singer Rory Storm, who refused to bow to McCartney's demands.^[6] After one argument, Caldwell poured a bowl of sugar over his head, but when McCartney turned up the next day, she had to phone her new boyfriend, George Harrison, to cancel their date.^[17]

Rhone later emigrated to Toronto, Canada,^[18] and McCartney met her again when The Beatles played there, and then again with Wings.^[19] Rhone later said that "Love of the Loved" and "P.S. I Love You" were written about her.^[20] Years later, Cynthia Lennon gave back Rhone the gold ring that McCartney had bought in Hamburg, as she had once tried it on when Rhone was washing dishes, and had forgotten to take it off. Rhone is now a grandmother and lives in Mississauga, Ontario.^[19]

Asher, Eastman and Schwartz

Main article: Jane Asher

Jane Asher during filming of the Maestro TV series in 2008

The Beatles were performing at the Royal Albert Hall, in London, when McCartney first met British actress Jane Asher on 18 April 1963, after a photographer asked them to pose with her.^[21] They were then interviewed by Asher for the BBC, and Asher was photographed screaming at them like a fan. McCartney later persuaded her to become his girlfriend.^[22] McCartney soon met Asher's family: Margaret, her mother, who combined her life as the mother of three children with a full-time career as a music teacher, and Asher's father, Richard, who was a physician.^[23] Her brother, Peter, was a member of Peter and Gordon, and her younger sister, Clare, was also an actress.^[24] McCartney later gave "A World Without Love" to Peter and Gordon, as well as "Nobody I Know". Both songs were hits for the duo.^[25] McCartney took up residence at the Ashers' house at 57 Wimpole Street, London, and lived there for nearly three years.^[26] During his time there McCartney met writers such as Bertrand Russell, Harold Pinter and Len Deighton.^[27] He wrote several songs at the Ashers', including "Yesterday", and worked on songs with Lennon in the basement music room. Asher inspired many songs, such as "And I Love Her", "You Won't See Me", and "I'm Looking Through You".^[28]

On 13 April 1965, McCartney bought a £40,000 three-storey Regency house at 7 Cavendish Avenue, St. John's Wood, London, and spent a further £20,000 renovating it.^[29] He thanked the Ashers by paying for the decoration of the front of their house.^[30] On 15 May 1967, McCartney met American photographer Linda Eastman at a Georgie Fame concert at The Bag O'Nails in London.^[31][32] Eastman was in the UK on an assignment to take photographs of "swinging sixties" musicians in London.^[33] They met again four days later at the launch party for the Sgt. Pepper album at Beatles' manager Brian Epstein's house in Belgravia, but after her assignment was completed, she flew back to New York.^[34] On 25 December 1967, McCartney and Asher announced their engagement, and she accompanied McCartney to India in February and March 1968.^[35]

Asher broke off the engagement in early 1968, after coming back from an acting assignment in Bristol to find McCartney in bed with another woman, Francie Schwartz. McCartney and Asher later attempted to mend their relationship, but finally broke up in July 1968. Asher has consistently refused to publicly discuss that part of her life.^[36][37] Schwartz, a 23-year-old New York scriptwriter, had travelled to London trying to interest Apple Corps in a film script.^[38] Schwartz was then asked by McCartney to move in to his Cavendish Avenue house, and was given a job working for Derek Taylor at Apple,^[39] which was then based in Wigmore Street, London.^[40] She attended many sessions during the recording of the White Album, and was living with McCartney when Lennon and Yoko Ono were also invited to live there.^[41] Shortly after, Schwartz sold the story of her time at Cavendish Avenue to Rolling Stone magazine.^[42]

Marriage to Linda Eastman

Main articles: Linda McCartney, Heather McCartney, Mary McCartney, Stella McCartney, and James McCartney

The McCartneys in 1976

In May 1968, McCartney met Eastman again in New York, when Lennon and McCartney were there to announce the formation of Apple Corps.^[43] In September, McCartney phoned her and asked her to fly over to London.^[44] Six months later they were married at a small civil ceremony—when Eastman was four months pregnant with their child, Mary McCartney—at Marylebone Registry Office on 12 March 1969. He later said that his wife was the woman who "gave me the strength and courage to work again", after the break-up of The Beatles.^[45] McCartney adopted her daughter from her first marriage, Heather, and had three children together: Mary, Stella, and James McCartney.^[46] McCartney taught his wife to play keyboards, and permanently included her in the line-up of Wings.^[47]

Linda McCartney died of breast cancer in Tucson, Arizona, on 17 April 1998;^[48] McCartney denied rumours that her death was an assisted suicide.^[48][49] Along with eight other British composers, he contributed to the choral album A Garland for Linda, and dedicated his classical album, Ecce Cor Meum, to his late wife.^[50] McCartney has said that he and his wife spent less than a week apart during their entire marriage, excluding McCartney's incarceration in Tokyo on drug charges in January 1980.^[51]

Marriage to Heather Mills

Main article: Heather Mills

A Gareth Boden photograph of Mills, taken for PETA

After having sparked the interest of the tabloids about his appearances with Mills at events, McCartney appeared publicly beside Mills at a party in January 2000, to celebrate her 32nd birthday.^[52] On 11 June 2002, McCartney married Mills, a former model and one legged,anti-landmines campaigner, in an elaborate ceremony at Castle Leslie in Glaslough, County Monaghan, Ireland, where more than 300 guests were invited and the reception included a vegetarian banquet.^[53] On 28 October 2003,^[54] Mills gave birth to a daughter, Beatrice Milly McCartney, although the date has also been stated as 30 October.^[55] The baby was reportedly named after Mills' mother Beatrice, and McCartney's Aunt Milly.^[56]

On 29 July 2006, British newspapers announced that McCartney had petitioned for divorce, which sparked a media furore.^[57][58] On 17 March 2008, the financial terms of the divorce were finalised,^[59] with a settlement awarding Mills £24.3 million ($38.5 million).^[60] The settlement stated that McCartney pay their four-year-old daughter Beatrice's nanny, school fees, and pay Beatrice £35,000 ($70,000) a year until she is 17, or ends her secondary education.^[61] After the divorce ruling, Justice Bennett said that throughout the case Mills was "inconsistent, inaccurate and less than candid" while McCartney was "honest."^[62][63] On 12 May 2008, Justice Hugh Bennett issued a decree nisi, which would become final after a period of six months apart.^[64]

Marriage to Nancy Shevell

McCartney started dating Nancy Shevell in November 2007. She is a member of the board of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority as well as vice president of a family-owned transportation conglomerate that includes New England Motor Freight.^[65] It was announced on 6 May 2011 that the two had become engaged.^[66]

On 9 October 2011, Paul McCartney and Nancy Shevell were married at Old Marylebone Town Hall where his first wedding took place in 1969. The couple attended Yom Kippur synagogue services the day before out of respect for Nancy's Jewish heritage ^[67], but did not seek a religious blessing for their union ^[68]. Upon their marriage, Nancy became Lady McCartney.^[69]

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} Miles 1997, p. 29.
2. ^ Flippo 1988, p. 72.
3. ^ Carlin 2009, p. 65.
4. ^ Spitz 2005, p. 163.
5. ^ Spitz 2005, p. 171.
6. ^ ^{a b c} Carlin 2009, p. 66.
7. ^ Spitz 2005, pp. 239–240.
8. ^ Harry 2003, p. 54.
9. ^ Spitz 2005, p. 246.
10. ^ Cross 2004, p. 33.
11. ^ The Beatles Anthology DVD 2003 (Episode 1: 43:51) McCartney talking about sex and strippers in Hamburg.
12. ^ Flippo 1988, p. 166.
13. ^ Spitz 2005, p. 311.
14. ^ Spitz 2005, pp. 319–320.
15. ^ Spitz 2005, p. 348.
16. ^ Bowen 2008, p. 54.
17. ^ Carlin 2009, p. 67.
18. ^ Kingsbury, Alex (12 December 2005). "Everybody's got something to hide, even the Beatles". U.S.News & World Report. http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/051212/12spitz.htm. Retrieved 5 July 2011. 
19. ^ ^{a b} "Dorothy Rhone". Sentstarr Tripod. http://sentstarr.tripod.com/beatgirls/rhone.html. Retrieved 14 May 2011. 
20. ^ Cross 2005, p. 423.
21. ^ Miles 1997, p. 101.
22. ^ Miles 1997, p. 102.
23. ^ Carlin 2009, p. 112.
24. ^ Miles 1997, p. 104.
25. ^ Miles 1997, p. 112.
26. ^ Miles 1997, p. 106.
27. ^ Miles 1997, pp. 125–126.
28. ^ Miles 1997, p. 108.
29. ^ Carlin 2009, p. 126.
30. ^ Miles 1997, p. 254.
31. ^ WingspanDVD 2001.
32. ^ Newman, Raymond (20 August 2006). "The Beatles' London, 1965–66 Abracadabra!". revolverbook. http://www.revolverbook.co.uk/beatleslondon.html. Retrieved 11 June 2006. 
33. ^ "Deep Purple Atlas". The Deep Purple Appreciation Society, deep-purple.net. http://www.deep-purple.net/archive/a-z/speakeasy/48-Margaret-St-resizes.jpg. Retrieved 11 June 2006. 
34. ^ Miles 1997, p. 117.
35. ^ Carlin 2009, p. 154.
36. ^ Mitchison, Amanda (3 October 2005). "Butter wouldn't melt". London: Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2005/10/03/ftjane03.xml. Retrieved 7 May 2007. 
37. ^ Miles 1997, p. 452.
38. ^ Sounes, Howard (16 August 2010). "She’d had 20 lovers in two years. Now Linda was out to snare Paul McCartney - no matter who stood in her way". Associated Newspapers. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1303363/Paul-McCartneys-turbulent-love-life-Linda-snare-Beatle--matter-stood-way.html. Retrieved 12 July 2011. 
39. ^ Fontenot, Robert; Schwartz, Francie. "Francie Schwartz: The "White Album girlfriend" tells all". About.com. p. 1. http://oldies.about.com/cs/theculture/a/schwartz.htm. Retrieved 13 July 2011. 
40. ^ Carlin 2009, p. 160.
41. ^ Fontenot, Robert; Schwartz, Francie. "Francie Schwartz: The "White Album girlfriend" tells all". About.com. p. 3. http://oldies.about.com/cs/theculture/a/schwartz_3.htm. Retrieved 13 July 2011. 
42. ^ Carlin 2009, p. 169.
43. ^ Spitz 2005, p. 761.
44. ^ Carlin 2009, p. 158.
45. ^ "Sequel: All Together Now Thirty years later, the surviving Beatles get back to where they once belonged". People (magazine). 14 February 1994. 
46. ^ "Stella triumphs in New York". BBC. 21 October 2000. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/982824.stm. Retrieved 29 January 2007. 
47. ^ Bonici, Ray (1982). "Paul McCartney Wings it alone". Music Express" (Canada) issue #56 (GG70470). http://beatles.ncf.ca/mpl.html. Retrieved 9 June 2011. 
48. ^ ^{a b} "Linda’s death". BBC. 23 April 1998. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/82362.stm. Retrieved 29 January 2007. 
49. ^ "Linda McCartney's Obituary". BBC. 19 May 1998. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/80494.stm. Retrieved 29 January 2007. 
50. ^ "A Garland for Linda". BBC. 17 May 1999. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/345875.stm. Retrieved 9 June 2011. 
51. ^ Graff, Gary (5 July 2001). "Still On The Run". Yahoo!. http://ca.music.yahoo.com/read/interview/12049116. Retrieved 12 July 2011. 
52. ^ "Heather Mills web page". http://www.heathermillsmccartney.com/. Retrieved 2 November 2006. 
53. ^ Uebelherr, Jan (21 August 2006). "They can't work it out; For these couples, summer wasn't all sunshine". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
54. ^ "Heather Mills’ Biography". Hello!. http://www.hellomagazine.com/profiles/heathermills/. Retrieved 11 July 2011. 
55. ^ Smart, Gordon (20 October 2006). "Macca is seeing a shrink". The Sun (United Kingdom). http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article67924.ece. Retrieved 11 July 2011. 
56. ^ King, Larry (30 October 2003). "Legal Analysis of Scott Peterson Preliminary Hearing Day Two; Interview With Paul Burrell". CNN Larry King Live (transcript). 
57. ^ Whitall, Susan (24 May 2006). "Women swoon as Paul McCartney is single again". The Detroit News. http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/entertainment/atoz/article_1152450.php. Retrieved 29 January 2007. 
58. ^ Stowe, Marilyn (18 October 2006). "My advice to Sir Paul? Pay up now – and get a gagging order". Times Newspapers. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article604920.ece. Retrieved 11 July 2011. 
59. ^ BBC. Neutral Citation Number: [2008] EWHC 401 (Fam) Between : James Paul McCartney Petitioner/ Respondent -and- Heather Anne Mills McCartney Respondent/ Applicant [1]
60. ^ "Mills gave 'inaccurate' evidence". BBC. 18 March 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7302736.stm. Retrieved 11 July 2011. 
61. ^ "Judgment: McCartney and Mills McCartney". 17 March 2008. http://www1.sky.com/news/Approved%20Judgment%201%20-%20Full%20Version.pdf. Retrieved 18 March 2008. 
62. ^ "Divorce judge: 'Paul McCartney was honest, Heather Mills wasn't'". NME. 18 March 2008. http://www.nme.com/news/paul-mccartney/35275. Retrieved 11 July 2011. 
63. ^ Gammell, Caroline; Moore, Matthew (2008-03-18). "Heather Mills 'inconsistent, inaccurate witness' in Paul McCartney divorce case". The Daily Telegraph (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/03/18/nmacca518.xml. Retrieved 22 May 2010. 
64. ^ Ormsby, Avril; Majendie, Paul (12 May 2008). "McCartney and Mills granted divorce". Reuters. http://uk.reuters.com/article/2008/05/12/uk-britain-mccartney-idUKL122579520080512. Retrieved 11 July 2011. 
65. ^ "Nancy Shevell: Vice President – Administration". New England Motor Freight. http://www.nemf.com/nancy.html. Retrieved 11 July 2011. 
66. ^ "Beatles legend Paul McCartney engaged to Nancy Shevell". New York Post. 6 May 2011. http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/paul_mccartney_engaged_to_nancy_L2B7GdLg5Uu2SNE8W8ZvQI?CMP=OTC-rss&FEEDNAME=. Retrieved 13 May 2011. 
67. ^ http://www.artsjournal.com/slippeddisc/2011/10/mazal-tov-macca.html
68. ^ http://www.artsjournal.com/slippeddisc/2011/10/mccartneys-jewish-ceremony-the-full-story.html
69. ^ Walters, Judy (10 October 2011). "Nancy Shevell becomes Lady McCartney.". Belle News. http://www.bellenews.com/2011/10/10/entertainment/nancy-shevell-becomes-lady-mccartney/. Retrieved 11 October 2011. 

References

• Bowen, Phil (2008). A Gallery to Play to: The Story of the Mersey Poets. Liverpool University Press. ISBN 978-1846311253. 
• Carlin, Peter Ames (2009). Paul McCartney: A Life. Touchstone Books. ISBN 978-1416562092. 
• Cross, Craig (2004). Beatles-discography.Com: Day-by-Day Song-by-Song Record-by-Record. iUniverse. ISBN 978-0595314874. 
• Flippo, Chet (1988). Yesterday: The Unauthorized Biography of Paul McCartney. Doubleday. ISBN 978-0385234825. 
• Harry, Bill (2002). The Paul McCartney Encyclopedia. Virgin Books. ISBN 978-0753507162. 
• Miles, Barry (1997). Many Years From Now. Vintage-Random House. ISBN 978-0805052497. 
• Spitz, Bob (2005). The Beatles: The Biography. Little, Brown and Company (New York). ISBN 978-0316013314. 
• Geoff Wonfor (2003) (DVD). The Beatles Anthology DVD (Liner notes). All Regions: Apple Corps. B00006GEMA. 
• Alistair Donald (2001) (DVD). Wingspan DVD (Liner notes). Europe: Import. B00005NYA3. 

External links

• Video featuring photos of Rhone and McCartney
• tripod page: Dot Rhone