„Ich würde meinen Herrn für dich opfern“: Eric Claptons Briefe an George Harrisons Frau Boyd und die berühmteste Dreiecksbeziehung der Rockgeschichte
T24 International News
The emotional letters that guitarist Eric Clapton wrote to Pattie Boyd while she was married to Beatles member George Harrison are being auctioned. The letters provide insight into one of the most famous love triangles in rock history.
Boyd was one of London’s most famous models in the 1960s. In 1966, she married Harrison, whom she met on the set of the Beatles‘ film A Hard Day’s Night. Boyd claimed that the Beatles‘ song „Something“ was about him, but Harrison later explained that this was not true.
In the late 60s, Harrison and Clapton started making music together. It was during this time that Clapton fell in love with Boyd.
Many items related to Boyd will be auctioned by Christie’s from March 8 to 21. Among the items are also love letters that Clapton wrote to Boyd with his bold pen.
According to The Guardian, Clapton seems to have written in a letter from 1970: „What I want to ask you is: Do you still love your wife or do you have another lover? All these questions are arrogant, but if you still have feelings for me in your heart, I need to know. In the letter, Clapton refers to his own „inner affairs“ as a galloping farce. When this letter was written, Clapton was also involved with aristocrat Alice Ormsby-Gore; He was also dating Boyd’s sister, Paula.
Speaking to Christie’s, Boyd explained that at first he thought this letter was from a „strange admirer,“ but later, when they spoke on the phone, it became clear that it was Harrison.
A few months later, Clapton wrote another letter on a page torn from the book „Of Mice and Men“:
„I would sacrifice my family, my lord, and my existence only for the joys of the past. I am at the end of my thoughts. I listened to the wind, watched the movement of the dark clouds, and waited for the ground beneath me to give me a sign, but it was in vain, only silence. Why do you hesitate, am I a bad lover, is it too much? „I am terrible, am I too weak, am I too strong, do you know? Why? If you want me, take me, if you don’t want me, please release this spell that binds me. To lock a predator in a cage is a sin, to tame it is sacred. My love belongs to you.“
Each letter is expected to fetch between £10,000 and £15,000.
Clapton also seems to address Boyd as „Layla“ in the letters. Clapton’s eponymous song would go on to make history in rock in the following years.
The couple eventually married in 1979. Clapton wrote one of his most famous songs, „Wonderful Tonight,“ for Boyd.
T24
