Letters central to one of the most famous love triangles in rock history are set to hit the auction block.
Pattie Boyd, the famed model who romanced both George Harrison and Eric Clapton, is putting more than 100 personal items up for auction. Among them, letters Clapton wrote to woo her away from the quiet Beatle, whom Boyd was married to from 1966 to 1977.
“Eric wrote the most divine, beautiful letters, and I don’t want to keep reading them,” Boyd noted to the New York Times, explaining why she decided to sell the love notes. “It hurts.”
“It seems like an eternity since I last saw or spoke to you,” Clapton proclaims in one of the letters dated 1970. “What I wish to ask you is if you still love your husband or if you have another lover?”
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In a separate letter up for auction, this time from 1971, Clapton wrote: “If you don’t want me, please break the spell that binds me. To cage a wild animal is a sin, to tame him is divine.”
Pattie Boyd Inspired Numerous Hit Songs
In the letters, Clapton referred to Boyd as “Layla” or “L.” The model would inspire Clapton’s hit, “Layla,” released in 1971 with Derek and the Dominos.
“I just knew — knew, knew! — it was about me,” Boyd told the Times, recalling the moment she first heard the song. “I went hot and cold because it was beautiful, so intense and amazing,” she said. “At the same time, the old Pisces in me thought, ‘Oh, my God, if George hears this he’s going to realize it’s about me.’”
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Boyd also inspired Harrison’s classic Beatles track “Something,” as well as Clapton’s 1977 ballad “Wonderful Tonight.”
Clapton’s letters to Boyd are predicted to go for around $19,000 each. Personal photographs, clothing, jewelry and artwork are also up for bids, as are items from her years with Harrison. The auction runs through March 22.
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Gallery Credit: Nick DeRiso
