Inside George Harrison's Shocking Affair with Bandmate Ringo Starr's Wife: 'Their Marriage Exploded'
George Harrison once had an affair with Ringo Starr's wife, Maureen Cox.
July 6 2026, Published 7:30 p.m. ET
Married George Harrison once found himself entangled in a shocking affair with his fellow bandmate Ringo Starr's wife.
Ahead of The Beatles drummer's 86th birthday on July 7, RadarOnline.com revisits the staggering betrayal and delves into claims that were made in Harrison's former wife Pattie Boyd's tell-all books.
Inside George Harrison's Bombshell Affair
The affair rocked both George Harrison and Ringo Starr's marriages.
Harrison and Boyd first met in the 1960s after she was cast in their film A Hard Day's Night.
"The end of filming, George [Harrison] asked me out and I said 'no' because I was seeing my boyfriend," an excerpt from Boyd's 2022 memoir, My Life in Pictures, read. "That could've been it, but then, as luck would have it, or as fate would have it, a week later we were called to Twickenham Studios for one last shot with the Beatles. That's when I dumped my boyfriend."
In 1966, they said "I do," but she had no idea what heartbreak awaited her by marrying the music legend.
According to a resurfaced interview with an insider, she "flew into a rage" and "their marriage exploded" when she caught Harrison in bed with Starr's wife, Maureen Cox.
Starr – born Richard Starkey – and Cox had tied the knot in 1965, one year before Harrison and Boyd's own vows.
Ringo Starr and Maureen Cox were married from 1965 until 1975.
In Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me, also published as Wonderful Today, by Boyd and Penny Junor, she also revealed that the affair was the "final straw" for their relationship.
"She was the last person I would have expected to stab me in the back, but she did," Boyd recalled of Cox.
George Harrison and Pattie Boyd married in 1966.
Once time, Boyd claimed, she even found Cox and her husband locked in a room together.
"I stood outside banging on the door and saying to George, 'What are you doing? Maureen's in there, isn't she? I know she is,' but he laughed," she recalled in Wonderful Tonight. "He was supposed to be in the studio and everyone was waiting for him. Eventually he opened the door and said, 'Oh, she's just a bit tired so she's lying down.'"
After divorcing Harrison is 1977, Boyd went on to marry English guitarist and songwriter Eric Clapton in 1979.
Ringo Starr Finds Love Again With Barbara Bach
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Ringo Starr has been married to Barbara Bach since 1981.
As for Starr, he found love again and later married famed actress and model Barbara Bach in 1981. The happy couple originally met after being cast in the 1981 comedy film Caveman, and have been married for more than 40 years.
However, in 2025, the drummer admitted that there was no "secret" to his decades-long marriage.
“There’s up-and-down days, and sometimes I’m really stupid, and then we get over it,” he told People at the time.
Back in 2015, he gushed of his longtime partner, "I think I love Barbara as much (today) as I did at LAX," referring to when she arrived at Los Angeles International Airport on her way to shoot the film.
He added, "I’m beyond blessed that she loves me and we’re still together."
