Do you know anything about George and Estelle? Or any other pre-Pattie girlfriends? Iāve been curious about it.
I hope you wonāt mind if I answer both of you together as the subjects are related.Ā
Did George haveĀ āa typeā. I think the answer is yes and no. Like all red blooded Beatle boys, George had a thing for Brigitte Bardot, French actress and sex symbol who John, and to a lesser degree I think, Paul and Ringo, were besotted with. So that lead to aĀ āpreferenceā if you like for blonde, tall and skinny girls (hello Pattie!) However, thatās not to say he didnāt like girls of all shapes and sizes and kinds as well.Ā
I think itās interesting that in interviews, the Beatles would often stress they wanted girls who attracted them to them with their minds as well as their physical attributes. Hereās George answering a question like that in 16 Magazine in June 1964:Ā
(More on that at a later date).Ā
George was very private about hisā¦ well, private life, so I think there were probably a few more girlfriends of his other than those we know a bit about, but hereās a quick over view of the very lucky, lucky girls who at one time or another were able to call themselves Georgeās girlfriend (up to and including Estelle).Ā
Iris was Rory Stormās younger sister and Georgeās first girlfriend.Ā
āMy first girlfriend was Rory Stormās sister, Iris Caldwell. She was really nice and had cotton wool in her bra. She probably didnāt ever think she was my girlfriend. You never know when youāre young; you just fancy somebody, or someoneās in the same room as you, and you end up thinking theyāre your girlfriend.ā
George and Iris had a very sweet, very chaste romance, which involved lots of hand-holding and sitting on sofas. Thereās a very sweet story about George and Iris - Rory embarrassed Iris by announcing from a stage that his sister stuffed her bra with cotton wool (as George alludes to in the above quote). Iris ran out, mortified and George chased after her.Ā
ā[A]ll the sudden, he caught up with me, turned me round, and it was George, and that was our first kiss. And nobody has ever - that was the best kiss ever in my life, and to this day, I remember that feeling in my tummy. Nobody ever kissed me like that. It was beautiful.ā
George and Iris broke up after George insulted some of Irisā friends at a party, so that was the end of that. But itās not all sadness for Iris - she went on to date Paul later and eventually married Alvin Stardust (and, I think, someone else after Alvin).Ā
Ruth was Georgeās girlfriend when he was around 16, and this small, low quality picture seems to be the only one of her. Itās from Pete, Rory and Roag Bestās book, The Beatles: The True Beginnings, and I think it could have been supplied by Ken Brown, who was briefly in the Beatles (or The Quarrymen) when the Casbah Club opened in 1959. Ruth was quite involved in the Casbah Club (I think that could be Mona Bestās dog sheās pictured with, though thatās unconfirmed). Ruth is described as having beautifulĀ auburn hair and being very pretty. She was mad about George and he was mad about her - for a short time. But alas for Ruth, George was more in love with rock and roll. Apparently George signalled the end of his relationship with poor Ruth in the most callous way. Ken Brown found Ruth crying one night, outside the Casbah. When he asked her what was wrong she told him George had refused to go to the cinema with her and she was frightened he just wasnāt bothered about her any more. Ken went and found George and told him Ruth was upset, but instead of going to find her, he shrugged his shoulders and went to play with the band instead. They continued together for a short while, but it was more or less over.Ā
āIn those days, Paul was not very interested in girls - he took one or two to the pictures, but that was all. He was in love with music. George was the same. Ruth was crazy over him, but he did not bother very much with her. George and Paul both thought it a great laugh that John was so keen on Cynthia.ā
Monika, who I donāt have a picture for or much info about unfortunately, was briefly Georgeās girlfriend when the Beatles were in Hamburg. She was 17 and so was George, so they were underagers together. She says it was more of a platonic relationship but she was there when George was deported and had to catch the train home.Ā
Pauline was Georgeās girlfriend c.1960-61. She met the Beatles at the Casbah and was first attracted to John, but it was George who asked her out. Pauline was probably Georgeās first steady girlfriend and she was still his girlfriend when he want to Hamburg with the Beatles in the Spring of 1961. Unfortunately for George, while he was away Pauline caught the eye of Gerry Marsden of Gerry and The Pacemakers. With George out of the country, Pauline when out with Gerry a couple of times, but she clearly told Gerry that George was her boyfriend and they could only be friends.Ā
āWeād been out a couple of times by then. But Pauline said she was going to see George. I returned alone downstairs to the Cavern and went to George. āHiya, Gerry,ā he said. I said, āDonāt smile. Iāve got some good news and some bad news. The good news is Iām in love. The bad news is that itās with your girl.ā The conversation didnāt last long. I think he said something to do with sex and travel. I then went back to Pauline upstairs and I told her there was no need to bother to go down - āIāve packed him in for you,ā I added. Pauline was furious, but Iāve always believed in dealing with problems head on.āĀ
Neither Pauline nor George took much notice of Gerry, but he just wouldnāt go away. Eventually George asked Pauline to chose, him or Gerry, and she picked Gerry - although George called her a few times afterwards to check āif she was still happyā. She married him in 1965 - as photographed above, with Brian Epstein as best man - and theyāre still married today.Ā
Marie was from Birkenhead and Georgeās girlfriend in the summer of 1961 (pictured above in 1963). She met George in the Cavern and after a couple of chats, they started going out. George had recently passed his driving test and he and Marie would go driving in Georgeās newĀ Ford Anglia late at night, after the Beatles Merseyside gigs, sometimes going as far as into North Wales. (The idea of this does strange things to my heart!) Iām not really sure how Marie and George broke up - I think the relationship probably petered out when George was taken away from Liverpool by Beatle tours and he moved to London. Marie went on to marryĀ Justin Hayward of the Moody Blues, and I think theyāre still together today as well.Ā
Bernadette - who is the small blonde girl watching George from under the Cavernās arch with her arms folded - was Georgeās girlfriend in early 1963, when she was 17. She was a Cavern regular and George asked her out by slipping a note through her door.Ā
āIt wasnāt too much out of his way to run me home. I still have a little note that he gave me for our first date. It was in early 1963. It was a very happy teenaged period, and I have so many happy memories. [ā¦] It was no big, raging love affair, but George was my boyfriend. He was a lovely, lovely man, a caring, private person. A lot of people said he was quiet but thatās because they didnāt get to know him. He was actually quite lively and humorous. he was always making dry quips. He was not shy, but he was happy to stand back and only speak when he thought it was relevant. He was a deep thinker who didnāt say any more than was necessary.ā
āIt was just a short relationship that ended when he went to London. Some of the girls from the Cavern went off to follow the band, but that was not for me. We drifted apart with the pressure of his work. It was just one of those things. People get stick for leaving Liverpool but in those days it was just something you had to do to succeed. They left Liverpool almost overnight and he just didnāt have time to see me. I saw him again at a party in the 1970s and he was still the same handsome, charismatic George.ā
Estelle of The Ronettes dated George (on and off) from late 1963 to early 1964. The Ronettes toured the UK in December 1963 and early 1964 and were introduced to the Beatles. George and Estelle hit it off right away.Ā
āGeorge and I talked whenever weād see each other. We found we liked the same things, long walks while wearing comfortable clothes and being with sincere people who liked us for ourselves and not because we were in show business. I think I was the happiest when I was talking with George. There was something about him that made me open up and spill out anything that was on my mind. I think he felt the same way, for heād often call late in the evening and talk on the phone for hours. We started seeing each other in England, but then had to say goodbye when he and the other Beatles left for Paris and an engagement. He called me every day. He even flew into London so he could see me on the one day he was off.Ā Ā liked George. Ā He wasnāt my boyfriend, but someone special, someone who meant an awful lot to me.ā
The budding relationship was put on hold when The Ronettes returned to the US at the end of their tour, but they were sure to meet up again a very short time later when the Beatles came over in February 1964. The Ronettes went to see the Beatles at their hotel on the first day, but it was crazy busy and George and Estelle didnāt have chance to talk (also, remember, George was just about to fall sick). He asked Estelle to come back and see him the next night.Ā
āThe next night I met George at the hotel. Along with the other Beatles, and Cynthia, Johnās wife, we sat down to dinner. What a good feeling it was to be with all of them again, just like old time in England. After dinner, George and I went into an adjoining study and brought each other up to date on the various happenings since our last meeting. George looked tired and told me he never gets a chance to relax. Ā I got the impression he didnāt enjoy traveling as much as the other boys did. [ā¦] We saw each other many times. I was with him at the party after their concert and on other evenings when we just sat around the hotel with the rest of the group. But somehow things werenāt the same. We couldnāt recreate the same relationship we had when I was in London. Instinct told me this wasnāt the right time to be with him. I didnāt want to be around when he wasnāt happy. Since Iād be returning to England soon, I decided it would be better to see each other on his home ground.ā
But I think by that time, George had met Pattie and that was all she wrote. Although Estelle says he was not her boyfriend, they did share a few dates and boys donāt generally fly back from France on a day off to see a girl they donāt have any feelings for.Ā
I think there could have been one or two othersā¦ but these are the acknowledged members of Georgeās girlfriends. Thank you for your ask(s)!
ellievsbear
tangentwithtanner
titsay
areudirty
blakekathryn
snowghoul
dailybridgerton
theartofmadeline
baratheonpilled
izzy806
