Personal relationships of Paul McCartney

This is a sub-article to Paul McCartney

One of McCartney's first girlfriends, in 1959, was called Layla, a name he remembers as being unusual in Liverpool at the time. Layla was slightly older than McCartney and used to ask him to baby-sit with her, which was a code word for sex. Julie Arthur, another girlfriend, was Ted Ray's niece.

McCartney had a three-year relationship with Dot Rhone in Liverpool, and they were due to get married until Rhone lost the baby she was expecting. In London McCartney had a five-year relationship with actress Jane Asher. They were engaged to be married until they broke up in 1968. McCartney married American photographer Linda Eastman in 1969. They had four children and remained married until Linda's death from breast cancer in 1998. In 2002, McCartney married former model Heather Mills and they had a child, Beatrice, in 2003. They separated in May 2006 and were divorced in May 2008.

McCartney has been dating Nancy Shevell since 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 which includes New England Motor Freight.

Relationship with Dot Rhone

McCartney's first serious girlfriend in Liverpool was Dot Rhone, whom he met at the Casbah club in 1959. McCartney picked out the clothes he wanted Rhone to wear and told her which make-up to use, and also paid for her to have her blonde hair done in the style of Brigitte Bardot, whom he and Lennon idolised. When McCartney first went to Hamburg with The Beatles he wrote regular letters to Rhone, and she accompanied Cynthia Lennon to Hamburg when The Beatles played there again in 1962. According to Rhone, McCartney bought her a gold ring in Hamburg, took her sightseeing and was very attentive and caring. Rhone later rented a room in the same house as Cynthia Lennon was living, and McCartney helped with the rent. McCartney admitted that he had other girlfriends in Hamburg during his time with Rhone. They were usually "strippers," who knew a lot more about sex than Liverpool girls.

Shortly after McCartney returned from Hamburg in May 1962, Rhone told him that she was pregnant. They told 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. Rhone had a miscarriage in July 1962, and after a few weeks, McCartney's feelings towards Rhone "cooled off" and he finished their relationship.

Rhone later emigrated to Toronto, Canada, and McCartney met her again when The Beatles played there, and then again with Wings. Rhone later said that "Love of the Loved" and "P.S. I Love You" were written about her. Years later, Cynthia Lennon gave back Rhone the gold ring that McCartney had bought in Hamburg, as Cynthia 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.

Relationship with Jane Asher

Main article: Jane Asher

File:JaneAsher.JPG

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, and a photographer asked them to pose with Asher. The Beatles were interviewed by Asher for the BBC, and Asher was then photographed screaming at them like a fan. McCartney later persuaded her to become his girlfriend.

McCartney soon met Jane's family: Margaret, Jane's mother, who combined her life as the mother of three children with a full-time career as a music teacher, and Jane's father, Richard, who was a physician. Jane's brother, Peter, was a member of Peter and Gordon, and Jane's younger sister, Clare, was also an actress. McCartney later gave "A World Without Love" to Peter and Gordon-as well as the song "Nobody I Know". Both songs became hits for the group. McCartney took up residence at the Ashers' house at 57 Wimpole Street, London, and lived there for nearly three years. During his time there McCartney met writers such as Bertrand Russell, Harold Pinter and Len Deighton. He wrote several songs at the Ashers', including "Yesterday", and worked on songs with Lennon in the basement music room. Jane inspired many songs, such as "And I Love Her", "You Won't See Me", and "I'm Looking Through You". 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. McCartney created a music room on the top floor of his house, where he worked with Lennon. He thanked the Ashers by paying for the decoration of the front of their house.

On 15 May 1967, McCartney met American photographer Linda Eastman at a Georgie Fame concert at The Bag O'Nails club in London. Eastman was in the UK on an assignment to take photographs of "Swinging sixties" musicians in London. McCartney and Linda later went to The Speakeasy club on Margaret Street. They met again four days later at the launch party for the Sgt. Pepper album at Epstein's house in Belgravia, but when her assignment was completed, Linda flew back to New York City.

On 25 December 1967, McCartney and Asher announced their engagement, and she accompanied McCartney to India in February and March 1968. Asher broke off the engagement in early 1968, after coming back from Bristol to find McCartney in bed with another woman, Francie Schwartz. They attempted to mend the relationship, but finally broke it off in July 1968. Asher has consistently refused to publicly discuss that part of her life.

Marriage to Linda Eastman

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

Linda and McCartney in 1976

In May 1968, McCartney met Eastman again in New York City, when Lennon and McCartney were there to announce the formation of Apple Corps. In September, McCartney phoned Eastman and asked her to fly over to London. Six months later, McCartney and Eastman were married at a small civil ceremony (when Linda was four months pregnant with McCartney's child) at Marylebone Registry Office on 12 March 1969. He later said that Eastman was the woman who "gave me the strength and courage to work again" (after the break-up of The Beatles). McCartney adopted Linda's daughter from her first marriage, Heather Louise (now a potter), and the couple had three more children together: photographer Mary Anna, fashion designer Stella Nina, and musician James Louis. McCartney has claimed that he and Linda spent less than a week apart during their entire marriage, interrupted only by Paul's incarceration in Tokyo on drug charges in January 1980.

Linda McCartney died of breast cancer in Tucson, Arizona, on 17 April 1998. McCartney denied rumours that her death was an assisted suicide. McCartney now has six grandchildren: Mary's three sons Arthur Alistair Donald (born 3 April 1999), Elliot Donald (born 1 August 2002), and Sam Aboud (born 11 August 2008), and Stella's children, Miller Alasdhair James Willis (born 25 February 2005), daughter Bailey Linda Olwyn Willis (born 8 December 2006), and Beckett Robert Lee Willis (born 8 January 2008).

Marriage to Heather Mills

Main article: Heather Mills

File:HeatherMills1.jpg

A Heather McCartney photograph for PETA

After having sparked the interest of the tabloids about his appearances with Heather Mills at events, McCartney appeared publicly beside Mills at a party in January 2000, to celebrate her 32nd birthday. On 11 June 2002, McCartney married Mills, a former model and 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. In 28 October 2003, Mills gave birth to a daughter, Beatrice Milly McCartney. The baby was reportedly named after Heather's late mother Beatrice and Paul's Aunt Milly.

On 29 July 2006, British newspapers announced that McCartney had petitioned for divorce, which sparked a media furore. A settlement was announced on 21 January 2007, but Mills' lawyers denied this. On 17 March 2008, the financial terms of the divorce were finalised with a settlement awarding Heather Mills £24.3 million ($38.5 million). The settlement will also see the former Beatle pay their four-year-old daughter Beatrice's nanny and school fees and will pay Beatrice £35,000 ($70,000) a year until she is 17, or ends secondary education. Mills's reaction to the Court's decision was to throw a glass of water at McCartney's lawyer, Fiona Shackleton. After the divorce ruling, Justice Bennett said that throughout the case Mills was "inconsistent, inaccurate and less than candid" while McCartney was "honest." On 12 May 2008, Justice Hugh Bennett issued only a preliminary divorce decree to be finalized in six months: "On the petition for divorce presented by Miss Heather Mills, I pronounce the decree nisi of divorce on the grounds of two years' separation."

Relationship with Nancy Shevell

McCartney has been dating Nancy Shevell since 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 which includes New England Motor Freight.

References

• Babiuk, Andy (2002). Beatles Gear: All the Fab Four's Instruments, from Stage to Studio. Backbeat Books|Backbeat Books (revised). ISBN 0-87930-662-9.
• Coleman, Ray (1992). Lennon: the definitive biography (Rev/Upd ed.). Harper Paperbacks. ISBN 10-00609-860-85. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: length (help)
• Davies, Hunter (2004). The Beatles: The Authorized Biography. Cassell Illustrated (revised). ISBN 1-84403-104-7.
• Gambaccini, Paul (1993). Paul McCartney: In His Own Words. Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0860012399.
• Gambaccini, Paul (1996). The McCartney Interviews: After the Break-Up. Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0711954946.
• Gould, Jonathan (2008). Can't Buy Me Love: The Beatles, Britain and America. Piatkus Books. ISBN 978-0-7499-2988-6.
• Gracen, Jorie B. (2000). Paul McCartney: I Saw Him Standing There. Billboard Books. ISBN 0-8230-8372-1.
• Harry, Bill (2002). The Paul McCartney Encyclopedia. Virgin Books. ISBN 0-7535-0716-1.
• Lennon, Cynthia (1980). A Twist of Lennon. Avon Books. ISBN 0-380-45450-5.
• Lennon, Cynthia (2006). John. Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 0-340-89828-3.
• Lewisohn, Mark (2002). Wingspan. Little, Brown and Company (New York). ISBN 0-316-86032-8.
• McGee, Garry (2003). Band on the Run: A History of Paul McCartney and Wings. Taylor Trade Publishing. ISBN 0-87833-304-5.
• Miles, Barry (1998). Many Years From Now. Vintage-Random House. ISBN 0-7493-8658-4.
• Pawlowski, Gareth L. (1990). How They Became The Beatles. McDonald & Co (Publishers) Ltd. ISBN 0-356-19052-8.
• Peel, Ian (2002). The Unknown Paul McCartney. Reynolds & Hearn Ltd. ISBN 1-903111-36-6.
• Spitz, Bob (2005). The Beatles: The Biography. Little, Brown and Company (New York). ISBN 1-84513-160-6.
• Tennant, John (2002). Football the Golden Age: A Collection of Over 250 Extraordinary Images. Cassell Illustrated. ISBN 1-84188-203-8.
• The Beatles (2003). The Beatles Anthology (DVD). Apple records. ASIN - B00008GKEG.