The Life and Loves of Pattie Boyd

Sept. 22, 2007 — -- As a mate and muse to rock 'n' roll royalty, Pattie Boyd captivated the most desirable men of her time. Despite a successful modeling career, she never appreciated her own beauty.

"I was maybe pretty, but beautiful is something else," Boyd said.

Her recently published best-selling memoir, "Wonderful Tonight," chronicles Boyd's life and loves — including the one that began in March 1964, when she was cast in the Beatles movie "A Hard Day's Night."

Her speaking role consisted of one word: "Prisoners." When she met the Beatles on set, they introduced themselves to her, as though she didn't know who they were. It was during this charming encounter that she found herself drawn to George Harrison, who was then 21 years old.

"He was incredibly good looking. Very, very attractive. But also he was … he seemed quite shy. And me being rather shy, I sort of felt … an affinity with him," Boyd said.

They clicked on their first date, a meeting chaperoned by Beatles manager Brian Epstein. It wasn't long before Harrison proposed.

"One day he said, 'I think we should really get married. I'm going to go and speak to Brian,'" Boyd said. "And then he came back, gave me a big kiss and said, 'Brian says we can get married in January.'"

Boyd settled into cozy domesticity, but Harrison went on with the Beatles to make the greatest music of his career, including "Something," a song he told Boyd he'd written for her.

"I thought it was an incredibly beautiful song," Boyd said.

It turned out Harrison wasn't the only one who thought Boyd was something else. She had attracted the attentions of another man, Harrison's close friend Eric Clapton.

"One day I got a little letter, beautifully written. And singing my praises, and saying that, you know, this person really loved me. And I had no idea who it was from," Boyd said. "It was just signed 'E.'. So I … I showed it to George, and said, 'Aha, look, I've got a great fan here.'"