Interview for Reuters • Friday, July 8, 1966
Interview
On July 5, 1966, The Beatles left Manila after being physically threatened because they didn’t join an invitation by the Philippines’ First Lady, Imelda Marcos. In the early morning of July 6, after a brief refuelling stop in Bangkok, they arrived in New Delhi, India, for a two-days stop. They left New Delhi on the evening of July 7.
They arrived at London Airport at 6 am on July 8, where a brief press conference was held. They were also interviewed by the ITN network and by Reuters, where they discuss their troubled time in the Philippines.
Q: John, what exactly happened at the Manila airport?
John Lennon: We got kicked and pushed around by some monkeys and we were very frightened.
Q: How was it for you, George?
George Harrison: Um… Terrified, I’d say. You know, it was very bad. There were about five sort-of real big funny-looking fellas with guns and all the rest of the gear…
John Lennon: … who did all the kicking.
George Harrison: Yeah. And you know, they just had arranged… You know, it was so obvious they’d arranged to give us the worst time possible, before we arrived at the airport. So we just got pistoled about and just, you know… Personally, I just kept dodging those people because they were the ones hysterical…
John Lennon: There were about five of them, the others weren’t bothering.
Q: Did you have to carry your luggage and make your own way across the airport
Ringo Starr: Only our hand baggage, you know. Our road managers took the big ones… They turned the escalator off on them. They had to carry them off the escalator. The amplifier…
John Lennon: That’s how intelligent they are…
Q: How many people were involved in this demonstration?
Paul McCartney: Well, I thought there was thirty. I’ve been telling everyone thirty. George says it was five.
John Lennon: It was sort of like a little army, to beat us off. And there was about another ten at the back of a crowd of ordinary people throwing “Boo, boo” and we looked around and they were just little kids smiling.
Q: Apart from the Philippines, did you enjoy the trip?
Paul McCartney: Yeah, it was great….
George Harrison: Japan was fantastic, very nice. It was great. Great people in Japan.
Last updated on November 4, 2023