The Silent Beatles (1971)

 

The Silent Beatles on Jagger Juggernaut

By Sydney Curtis

Evening Standard (London)

May 12, 1971

    Two of the Beatles met at Gatwick today. There was no exchange of words in the airport's departure lounge waiting take off to Mick Jagger's wedding. 

    They sat for four minutes at the same table before their flight, the Jagger Juggernaut was called and said nothing to each other. The silent confrontation was between Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.

     Paul was with his wife, Linda, his daughter, and Linda's daughter from a previous marriage. Ringo was with his wife, Maureen. 

    Earlier, I talked to both McCartney and Starr.

    McCartney, who had held up the plane for half an hour by his late arrival at the airport, was asked if there was going to be a reunion. He said, "No, it's a wedding."

     I asked him if there was any chance of the month-long Beatles rift being healed because of this wedding meeting. He replied, "Look, I don't want to talk about that."

     But when I told him that Ringo Starr was already at the airport, he grinned and said, "Oh, good lad."

     Asked why George Harrison and John Lennon had not turned up, he said, "I cannot speak for the others."

     Would he be talking to the other Beatles if they arrived at the wedding? "I don't know," he said.

     Earlier, I asked Ringo Starr if all the Beatles were going to St Tropez.  He replied, "We've made our own arrangements."

     Was the rift too great to be healed at a fellow pop idol's marriage? Ringo, wearing a white suit, black shirt, and sunglasses, turned aside without commenting.