Paul McCartney and Jane Asher get engaged

Paul McCartney started dating Jane Asher soon after they first met on April 18, 1963. After four years together, they announced their engagement to be married to Paul’s family on this day, December 25, 1967.

However, their engagement didn’t last for long. In July 1968, Jane publicly announced that she had called off her engagement to Paul. Around this time, Paul McCartney was in a relationship with Francie Schwartz. Also, in May 1967, he met Linda Eastman, who became his wife in March 1969.

[…] During the difficult days following Brian [Epstein]’s death [Jane] was clearly a great source of strength and comfort to [Paul]; someone familiar and safe he could trust and confide in; someone with all the attributes of a wife. They spent the first three weeks of December alone together in Paul’s remote Scottish farmhouse and four days later, on Christmas Day, 1967, they announced to Paul’s family – perhaps slightly to their own surprise – their engagement.

From “Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now” by Barry Miles, 1997

Jane Asher and I were together for around five years, so at the back of my mind I expected to marry her, but as the time got closer, I think I also realised it wasn’t right. You can’t ever put your finger on it, but when Linda came along, shortly after Jane and I broke up, I just thought, ‘Oh, I dunno, maybe this is more right.’ And then when Linda and I got to know each other, I felt, ‘This is more me; I’m more her.’ And there were little things with Jane where we just didn’t quite match up. I loved a lot of things about her, and I will always admire a lot of things about her. She’s a wonderful woman, but little bits of the jigsaw weren’t quite fitting.

Paul McCartney – From “The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present“, 2021

I’ll wed Jane but not yet, says Paul

Beatle Pain McCartney said yesterday that he and actress Jane Asher were definitely going to get married, but when, they didn’t know.

Pail and Jane and their sheepdog, Martha, arrived yesterday at Paul’s sheep farm beside the Atlantic rollers, near the Mull of Kintyre, Scotland.

Earlier, before leaving an hotel on the outskirts of Glasgow for the 140-mile drive to the farm, Paul said: “At the moment we just want a quiet week’s break at the farm. We like it very much there. We’ve both been very busy during recent months.”

He added that his busy life was the reason why he could not plan marriage yet.

Want a long honeymoon

“I am not trying to hedge,” he said, “but work keeps interfering. When I am clear, Jane is working, and when she is clear, I am working. I suppose we could get married and have a couple of days together, but we both want to wait until we have no commitments, and have a long honeymoon.”

Paul said he get sick of posh hotels.

Paul and Jane were held up on the outskirts of Glasgow, when the fan belt on their Aston Martin snapped on Sunday night and they stayed overnight at the hotel.

But by the time they were called for breakfast a mechanic had repaired the trouble.

From Liverpool Daily Post – December 12, 1967

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