After a romance lasting just shy of two years, George Harrison married Patricia Anne Boyd on 21 January 1966 at Epsom register office, Surrey.
I bought a Mary Quant pinky-red shot-silk dress, which came to just above the knee, and I wore it with creamy stockings and pointy red shoes. On top, because it was January and cold, I wore a red fox-fur coat, also by Mary Quant, that George gave me. She made George a beautiful black Mongolian lamb coat.The ceremony took place early in the morning at Epsom register office, in Surrey, not the most glamorous place, and the room was very hot and stuffy. Brian Epstein was there and Paul McCartney, who was George’s best man. Otherwise it was family – my mother, with her cousin Penny Evans, who had been around a lot while I was growing up. Colin, Jenny, Paula, David and Boo, George’s parents and brothers. Uncle John, my mother’s twin brother, gave me away.
Wonderful Today
John Lennon and Ringo Starr were on holiday and couldn’t attend the wedding.
It was not the wedding I had dreamt of – I would have loved to be married in church, but Brian didn’t want a big fuss. They all trusted him so implicitly that when he said it should be a quiet register office wedding George agreed. He also said it had to be secret – if the press found out, it would be chaotic…There was no shortage of pictures of us leaving the register office. We came out into the street to find dozens of press photographers lined up outside. So much for keeping the whole thing secret.
Wonderful Today
The happy couple left the register office in a Rolls-Royce Princess, for a reception at Kinfauns, their bungalow in Esher. The following day they held a press conference, and flew to Barbados for their honeymoon on 8 February 1966.
Also on this day...
- 2014: US release: The US Albums
- 2011: Yoko Ono grants publishing rights to Lennon letters
- 1990: Paul McCartney live: Wembley Arena, London
- 1969: Get Back/Let It Be sessions: day 12
- 1969: Ringo Starr is interviewed for the BBC’s Scene And Heard
- 1963: Radio: The Friday Spectacular
- 1962: The Beatles live: Casbah Coffee Club, Liverpool
- 1961: The Beatles live: Aintree Institute, Liverpool
- 1961: The Beatles live: Lathom Hall, Liverpool
Want more? Visit the Beatles history section.
I saw a documentary that mentioned Brian Epstein encouraged George and Paul to marry in 1965 due to death threats. Paul didn’t want to get married. George was paranoid so he married. Sorry, I just have a hard time believing based on all I have read, that this was some great romance. There was heavy drug use, other woman…etc.
Pattie was pregnant with Georges son. That is why they married , the son was later put up for adoption. because record sales couldn’t handle another scandal after the more popular than jesus. Adoptions are secretive in nature . if you really look its plain as day. She was pregnant on her wedding day . the son she gave birth to was a little over 5 Lbs.
George and Pattie giving a baby away for adoption would even be more scandalous.
If this particular adoption is so secretive how come you know about it? Your story is full of holes.
If you really look its plain as day. Someone doesn’t know.
I call BS to your story. If it were true that Olivia Harrison was stealing money from George to pay to keep your birth private, get a court order and have your DNA tested. Then have her financial records checked. It will prove if she’s been handing money over to hide you.
It’s done all the time, to disprove insane, greedy people from attacking the estates of wealthy people. Having a very poorly written website with pictures, and a Facebook page is certainly not evidence.
I looked at pictures of him; he favors her but not George. I wonder if she was pregnant with somebody else’s child but your right he should petition for a paternity test. If he’s not George’s it won’t affect his family but if he’s Pattie’s then having somebody else’s baby could be bad for business then unlike today where people are so much trashier. Remember the guy who might have been Paul McCartney’s. His mother had slept with Paul and one other guy after Paul and he had a DNA test turned out to be the other guy’s child which the man was happy he didn’t want to be Paul’s son. That’s the only legit case I’ve ever heard. I got to admit I’m surprised as much as they skanked around they were such man whore’s back then that they didn’t have more illegitimate children. Them and a bunch more rock stars. The Pill was around but still was kind of new. Dhani looks just like George as we say in the South he couldn’t have denied him in a court of law!
I read Pattie’s book, and determined to take the whole of it with a grain of salt. it wasn’t lost on me that it was written after George had passed, so who’s to debate what happened behind closed doors? He was always deeply private; a small part determining the reasons she waited. I began to realize quickly that this was mostly fiction, ridden like a Ghost writer writing fanfiction; she seemed to possess a very selective memory, one that never left her in a bad light. She wallowed way too much and put too much emphasis on the fact that these two guys “worshipped” her. That was pretty much the whole book. No matter that some of her timeline and facts were inaccurate and inconsistent This book read exactly like those articles that would appear in the fan magazines, which claimed to be from somebody authentic. All parts of their private life together should have died with him. She literally stopped just short of describing their sex life. She needn’t have capitalized on his passing. It was very unseemly, and speaks volumes of the Pattie I guess we never really knew
I can relate.
She claimed that George didn’t like Paul and saw him as too pushy, as well as claiming that George never confided in her, not to mention being so angry at John, Paul and Ringo that he cheated on her with Maureen, Ringo’s wife, but again, I either take these with a grain of salt or just not believe her.
It’s highly unlikely that George never confided in her and since Pattie was never a regular at The Beatles’ recording sessions the way Yoko was, she wouldn’t have been directly privy to what happened most of the time.
Just my two cents.
I’ve never heard this story, so it’s likely that it’s made up. The only kid of George that I know of is obviously Dhani.
John made his comments about Jesus in March of 1966. And this wedding was in January. At least get your facts straight before you make something up.
Why would they get married if they were only going to give the baby up for adoption? And if they were married and they had the baby, why would it be a scandal? Married people have babies all the time. So do unmarried people. Your story makes no sense and I think you’ve made it up or something else told you a dumb story and you believed it.
Um…no. Pattie is infertile. She never had children because of it so her getting pregnant is impossible.
Plus they would never put their child up for adoption george was against it… This jerk is just seeking his ten minutes of fame Dhani is the rightful Harrison child
You’re way off. The ” we’re bigger than Jesus” thing happened way later, when George and Pattie had been married at least a couple years when that happened. It is well documented that Pattie was never able to have children, and the big question was whether George knew it beforehand which remains an unknown. He didn’t appear to know on his wedding day, because he made reference to looking forward to future children in an interview given before they even left the building that day
This wedding was before the Jesus incident which occured several months later during the World Tour .
Hey “Someone who doesn’t know” Plain and simple lie there. This would have been all over the media, even without the internet. That kind of salacious story could not be withheld from the public.
I disagree. Paul married when he was good and ready, which is a good thing and I have no doubt a George really did love Pattie. Your comment would make more sense if you were referring to Olivia, which always seemed unromantic , businesslike and quite a bit off
I have a few thoughts about people who say that George never really loved Olivia or his love for her was not a strong one. Again if that is your opinion but….you are basically saying that George was the sort of man who strung a woman along for 27 years and had so little integrity as a human being he would live in an empty relationship for 27 years
You are saying George was basically lying for 27 when he said how he loved Olivia in several interviews and in ths songs he wrote for her such as Dark Sweet Lady
You are saying that George only saw Olivia as a womb and that there was no integrity to the family life he, Olivia and Dhani built together
I value Pattie Boyd and the life and relationship she had with George. I value the fact she placed a vital role in George’s life and inspired him. It is not a competition. For me, denigrating Pattie would actually be denigrating George and Olivia as if I could only build Olivia up by tearing Pattie down that only reflects badly on Olivia- and there is more than enough incredibly positive things to say about Olivia. I know George would be horrified. Thankfully most George fans are above behaving in this way
I’ve deleted all but one of the six lengthy comments you left praising Olivia (under two usernames), because this isn’t the page for it. Please try to keep discussions on topic, otherwise they might not be published. Thanks.
Er- I was just defending her from this silly comment- it should never have been allowed – as with the ‘carl Harrison’ comments
* I meant Paul married when he was good and ready, which is a good thing, and absolutely the way to go. No way do I buy that either Paul nor George would have succumbed to pressure from Brian Epstein on such a personal level. I know he wanted John to keep his marriage secret; that’s one thing. But to pressure the others into GETTING married sounds pretty ridiculous and, frankly, out of character for either one of them. can’t see either one of them agreeing to that
Well most romances don’t produce the song “Something” so maybe their love was “Something.”
Doubtful there was much love, but a lot of infidelity, neglect and emotional abuse. Pattie herself said she was surprised the song was about her when George recently asked for a divorce in 1969. Look, it is so obvious. “Brian didn’t want a big church wedding because he wanted to keep it private.” They didn’t want a fuss, so they invited the press and had a press conference? Sending photographers on their honeymoon is not keeping it quiet. Ringo and Maureen had a quiet church wedding and no press conference? Why did George and Pattie have to have a press conference? It seems suspicious to me. Sounds like they sold Pattie a story….
FYI, George actually loved Pattie very much, even writing songs for her, and although they were briefly separated in early 1969 as a result of an affair George was having with Charlotte Martin (this page confirms it), hence George’s bad mood during the Twickenham stage of the Get Back sessions, their marriage didn’t unravel in earnest until c. 1973-1974.
I seriously doubt that George and Pattie would’ve stayed together for as long as they did if it was a loveless marriage – even in a March 1966 interview, George openly stated the equality of their marriage and he mentioned that Pattie broadened his outlook on life.
Paul acting as best man proves that he and George had a very good friendship and relationship and were still getting along relatively well, but John and Ringo were unable to attend, because they were on holiday in Trinidad with their wives.
Perhaps Brian wanted the nuptials to be low-key, out of concern for the couple’s safety.
Just imagine how they would’ve been harassed and bombarded by cartloads of photographers and the British media had they gotten married in a church or in a ritzy wedding ceremony – after all, The Beatles were very high-profile celebrities – and when Paul married Linda in March 1969, the couple were literally being harassed by crowds of photographers, journalists and policemen who had to restrain tearful teenage girls.
I have always found it odd that when asked the question, George repeatedly denied the song Something was about Pattie. Then, he slowly started to succumb to the notion after it was printed as if fact and after being asked repeatedly
As late as 1993 in an Interview with Paul Cashmere George said that Something was inspired by the voice of Ray Charles not Pattie. He also said this in at least one interview in the 1990’s. He maintained the song was inspired by Ray Charles voice throughout his life in many interviews and in I me mine
No- George always said from the mid 1970’s right up to the interview with Paul Cashmere in around 1994 that ‘Something’ was inspired by the voice of Ray Charles. He never waivered.
Here is the relevant section from Paul Cashmere Interview in 1994
Paul Cashmere: Can you tell me about “Something”. Now, you wrote that about Patti, is that right?
George Harrison: Well no, I didn’t. I just wrote it, and then somebody put together a video. And what they did was they went out and got some footage of me and Patti, Paul and Linda, Ringo and Maureen, it was at that time, and John and Yoko and they just made up a little video to go with it. So then, everybody presumed I wrote it about Patti, but actually, when I wrote it, I was thinking of Ray Charles.
Paul Cashmere: He’s not as good looking, but well, you know …
George Harrison: Yeah, but he’s a better singer. (Laughs) But that’s what I was thinking of. I could hear in my head Ray Charles singing it.
I think the fact that Paul was drunk at the wedding is hilarious
A picture is worth a thousand words
I think it’s kind of sad what you are doing. You’ve taken this to an extraordinary level. Having said that, I wish you come to know joy, happiness, and true peace in your life
Yes there were drugs, infidelities, etc but you can’t deny the two were infatuated with each other for a time & there was a love between them that endured.
“He was the eternal love.”
– Pattie Boyd on George Harrison
Hi
The map shows Leatherhead registry office which is now the place for Epsom wedding to take place . Epsom registry office was in Ashley House Ashley Road Epsom.
David
Thanks for the correction David. I’ve amended the page, hopefully getting it right!
Pattie looked very pretty on the wedding day, especially with the ribbon that she wore in her hair.