snowqueen of texas

Sorry for all the questions but you’re the Klaus expert and I have no where else to go.

Klaus has always said that he and Astrid were not compatible, and blames them both being Tauruses. He says Tauruses are notoriously stubborn, and two stubborn people do not make a harmonious couple. He has also discussed his dislike for being controlled, and felt that that was what Astrid was trying to do. While Stuart revelled in sharing clothes and adopting the style Astrid adored, Klaus did not. He sums it up in their 1999 book 'Hamburg Days':

“I felt quite embarrassed about getting dressed up, or having a big scarf around my neck, and with my hair combed down too. I did that more for her. Maybe she doesn't even know that to this day... She must, though. I got out our old letters the other day, a whole heap of them, and in one I was saying, 'We can't be a couple any more, because you are ruling over me too much and I don't think I can take that.' The clothes I was wearing were part of that. Astrid was dressing me up like a puppy on a leash that she could take for a walk. We clashed a bit over things like that. Even before Stuart came into the picture, I was saying, 'We can't do it together, it doesn't work, we are too different. I can't be what you want to make me.'”

They were drifting apart for a long time before Stuart came into the picture. They loved each other, but realised that was more platonic than romantic. As Astrid said: “We had this wonderful relationship - pretty unusual back in the sixties - in which he loved me more as an individual and a friend than as a lover: his greatest concern was that I should be happy… Of course, he was upset; but I really think that he was happy that I was happy.”

But I admit that this hatred of being controlled is quite contradictory later on when Klaus falls for Rita Coolidge. As you say, he told her she should give up her music career if they were to be together - “since she wasn’t a particularly good singer anyway.” Yikes.

However, reading the account back to write this, I’m not convinced he was doing it with the intention of controlling her. It was certainly clumsy and rude, but I don’t think he is the type to disagree with his partner working and having independence away from their relationship. With regard to Christine Hargreaves, for example, a 1968 Fabulous 208 article states that he “is more excited about his wife’s achievements than his own.” And he has been a great promoter of his wife Christina’s “destiny” to support Native Americans, with the profits from some of his projects going towards the campaign.

Unfortunately I don’t know how he met Christine Hargreaves, but they married on 29 November 1965. My guess is that Christine must have frequented the Pickwick Club or somewhere else that Klaus played with Paddy, Klaus & Gibson. The earliest she is mentioned in his 2004 autobiography is when he discusses his two marriages. In the book, he does imply that they were in love, talking about how much their personalities gelled and how they had a passionate sex life (thanks, Klaus). But he does mention how he was forced to marry in order to stay in England. This was also corroborated by Peter Brown in his book, who organised the wedding. Additionally, in a 1968 BRAVO article, Klaus states that he is a “temporary husband”, confirming that his marriage to Christine was simply one of convenience: “She’s nice, a nice friend. We also live together. We eat together and talk. Unfortunately, that’s all. Love was lost, gone with the wind.”