Pattie Boyd jokes she demanded ‘Layla’ royalties from ex Eric Clapton as part of divorce settlement
Pattie Boyd has joked she demanded royalties from ex-husband Eric Clapton as part of their divorce settlement for inspiring his rock classic ‘Layla’.
The model and rock muse, now 78 and a successful writer, was wooed from her husband, Beatles guitarist George Harrison, after Eric played her his 1970 anthem and told her it was written in honour of his love for her.
But she resisted leaving George, who died aged 58 in 2001, for Eric until the Beatle’s cheating led to their divorce in 1974.
Pattie, who then divorced Eric, 77, in 1989, jokingly told the Sunday Times magazine she hasn’t received a penny from the track.
She said: “I asked for that in my divorce and he said, ‘Are you kidding?’ That’s why I have to write books.”
Pattie also inspired some of George’s work with The Beatles, including ‘I Need You’, ‘If I Needed Someone’, ‘Love You To’ and ‘Something’
George wrote his 1973 solo song ‘So Sad’ about his marriage to Pattie.
Recalling her first meeting with the Beatle on the set of the band’s first feature film ‘A Hard Days Night’ in 1964, Pattie added: “He was so good looking and sweet, chatting away. (The Beatles) were all wearing little dark suits and little black ties.
“Yes, he was very gorgeous and sexy, very stylish.
“(The Beatles’ manager) Brian Epstein had a theatre and Eric was playing there. We all went back to Brian’s flat and he became friends with George.”
Two years after meeting, the couple married at Epsom Registry Office, before Pattie left for Eric, to whom she was married for a decade.
Pattie initially rebuffed Eric’s advances despite him playing her ‘Layla’, leading him to descend into heroin addiction and he became a virtual recluse for three years.
The model left Eric in April 1987 and divorced him in 1989.
Her stated reasons were the blues guitarist's years of alcoholism, as well as his numerous affairs, including one with Italian actress Lory Del Santo, now 63.
In 1989, her divorce was granted on the grounds of “infidelity and unreasonable behaviour”.
Pattie later suspected Erics pursuit of her when she was married to George had more to do with the competitiveness between the musicians and Eric “just wanted what George had”.
After her split with Eric, Pattie married for a third time in 2015, to property developer Rod Weston, at a registry office in London after they met during a holiday in Sri Lanka.
