George Harrison's widow believes she gave the Beatles legend a "normal life".
Olivia and George Harrison were happily married
Olivia Harrison - who married the late musician in September 1978 - admitted there were "bumps in the road" in their marriage but she insisted her spouse was not a "great womaniser" and he "shut a door" on infidelity when they got together in 1974.
She said: “I wouldn’t say great. No, no, really not. I wouldn’t say [he was] a great womaniser.
"George was pursued and also, you know, he was a very sensual person.”
Asked if she accepted an open relationship was the price she paid for what they had, she told the Sunday Times magazine: "Absolutely not. I believe he was … he shut a door when I met him. And we were very private. He wanted this normal life. And I think that was what I gave him.
"So, you know, during our marriage, there was a lot of flirtation, there were some bumps in the road. But we were solid."
George died of lung cancer in November 2001, and Olivia recalled being shocked at how people tried to interfere with her life afterwards, despite being warned it would happen by Yoko Ono, the widow of John Lennon.
She said: “I got very busy, managing lots of things and the gardens and business and the people that, you know, change.”
Asked if she meant the people who dropped out of her life, she clarified: “I think more the people who came in. I did have to jettison a few. Yoko actually said to me, ‘You don’t know what’s going to happen, but I do.’ And she was right. There were people who had other ideas about how I should live my life. And I was pretty shocked by that.
"[The legal battles] took years. And after George died I was still doing it. I thought, no, you can’t let people just walk all over you. That’s not a good message for other people …
"I had more than one person tell me, ‘Well, Mrs Harrison, you’re not going to want your business in the papers.’ And I said, ‘Well, you know what? I’ve been in the papers, I don’t care. But do you want your business in the papers? Go ahead, make my day.’ ”
Olivia and Yoko are friends and the poet has a lot of admiration for the singer-and-activist.
She said: "I haven’t seen her in a long time. She’s not been very well recently, but she always befriended me … We didn’t spend a lot of time together, but she’s just magnificent.
"You know, we would sit in a board meeting together [the Apple Corps board, of which they are both directors], and she would take everyone completely out of this realm into another realm, which I loved. She’s the most disarming person.”
Tagged in George Harrison John Lennon Yoko Ono