Sixties muse Pattie reveals heartache at not having children
AS ONE of the most photographed figures of the Swinging Sixties, Pattie Boyd inspired a string of classic pop songs and was at the heart of the most talked-about love triangle in rock history.
Despite seeming to have it all, the model — who was married to both Beatle George Harrison at the height of his fame and Eric Clapton — has spoken for the first time of her great sadness at not being able to conceive.
‘I thought that, naturally, when I grew up and got married I’d have children,’ she tells me at a party in Chelsea. ‘Sadly, it didn’t happen for me.
‘I thought it just goes with the idea of being a woman. Then, when it didn’t happen, I started to panic and wondered why.
‘Once you come to terms with the fact that it’s not going to happen to you, it takes a while to get a grip on reality and bite your lip.’
Pattie, now 75, was the inspiration for Harrison’s song Something and Clapton’s Layla and Wonderful Tonight. Harrison would not consider adoption when they found out they were unable to conceive.
Clapton fell for Pattie after becoming a close friend of the
Beatles star. When she initially rejected Clapton’s advances, he descended into heroin addiction and self-imposed exile for three years. Once cured, he pursued her again and she eventually agreed to leave Harrison.
However, Pattie and Clapton were unable to have children despite trying in vitro fertilisation.
The couple split up in 1987 and she married property developer Rod Weston in 2015.
‘The fantasy of having children is wonderful, but when you realise that none of that is going to happen, it’s a very hard pill to swallow,’ she adds.
‘Once you get over that, you come to the realisation that you’ve got great friends, life is fabulous.
‘I believe that we can’t force nature. Whatever happens in life is meant to happen.’