Paul McCartney, Jane Asher, Ringo Starr and Maureen Cox fly to Lisbon

On May 2, 1964, Paul McCartney, Jane Asher, Ringo Starr and Maureen Cox flew from London to Lisbon via Paris, the first leg of a holiday trip to the Virgin Islands. The other Beatles — John Lennon and Cynthia, and George Harrison and Pattie Boyd — departed on the same day for a separate holiday in Hawaii. The organisation of the trip required considerable secrecy: the couples adopted aliases and disguises to avoid recognition, with Paul and Jane travelling as Mr Manning and Miss Ashcroft, and Ringo and Maureen as Mr Stone and Miss Cockcroft.

The holiday came in a brief window between The Beatles’ spring commitments — including filming for A Hard Day’s Night and the Around The Beatles television special — and the beginning of their first world tour, which was scheduled to start on June 4 in Copenhagen. From Lisbon the couples continued to St Thomas in the Virgin Islands, arriving on May 3.

Going further

The Beatles Diary Volume 1: The Beatles Years

With greatly expanded text, this is the most revealing and frank personal 30-year chronicle of the group ever written. Insider Barry Miles covers the Beatles story from childhood to the break-up of the group.

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