A study of unaffected beauty undimmed after 40 years... Sir Paul’s favourite photo of his beloved Linda
WHEN she lost her battle against cancer, Sir Paul McCartney tearfully declared that his wife Linda had been the love of his life.
Now, almost 20 years later, the former Beatle has paid fresh tribute to the woman who helped him heal after the painful break-up of the most famous band the world has ever seen.
The 75-year-old musician – also a keen photographer – has disclosed that his favourite picture he ever took of Linda was of her basking in the sunshine.
The photo, snapped by Sir Paul during a trip to Scotland in the 1970s, shows her wearing a Fair Isle sweater – and was used on the cover of Wide Prairie, an album of her music that was released only a few months after her death, aged 56, from breast cancer in 1998.
The memory of his wife looking thoughtful has stayed with him through the decades. When an Australian fan last week wrote to Sir Paul’s website asking ‘of all of the photographs that you have taken, which is your favourite?’ the singer replied: ‘That I’ve taken? Hmmm, it’s probably the one of Linda on the cover of Wide Prairie. It’s a really nice picture of her wearing the Fair Isle sweater.’
The photo was taken more than 40 years ago, shortly after the birth of the couple’s first child Mary, when, during their travels around Scotland, they decided on a whim to visit Orkney. Sir Paul and Linda, who were married for 30 years, loved Scotland and made their home at High Park Farm on Kintyre after the break-up of the Beatles.
He once said: ‘When I married Linda, she came over from America and she was in love with the whole idea of Scotland.
‘She said, “You’ve got a place in Scotland haven’t you?” I said, “Yeah”, so she said, “Let’s go”, so, OK, we went up. Looking at it through her eyes I fell in love with it. So I love the place.’
Knitters on Fair Isle last week welcomed Sir Paul’s endorsement of their traditional craft. Mati Ventrillon, a craft textile designer, said: ‘I knew they had visited Shetland in the past and I’m sure they got the sweater then. It really is a nice picture.’