Pattie Boyd, an English model and photographer, was one of the leading international models during the 1960s and, with Jean Shrimpton, epitomized the British female look of the era.
Boyd married George Harrison in 1966 and experienced the height of the Beatles’ popularity as well as sharing in their embrace of Indian spirituality. She divorced Harrison in 1977 and married Harrison’s friend Eric Clapton in 1979.
Boyd and Clapton divorced in 1989. Boyd inspired Harrison’s songs “I Need You”, “If I Needed Someone “, “Something ” and “For You Blue”, and Clapton’s songs “Layla”, “Bell Bottom Blues” and “Wonderful Tonight”.
Boyd said her decision to leave Harrison, in July 1974, was based largely on his repeated infidelities, culminating in his affair with Starr’s wife Maureen, which Boyd called “the final straw”.
Pattie Boyd broke up with George in 1974 due to his continuous affairs with various women including Ringo Starr’s wife. Five years after her divorce, Boyd got married to Clapton. Although the couple spent several happy years together, Pattie left Clapton in 1987 and divorced him in 1989.