Press conference at London airport • Friday, July 8, 1966

Interview

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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.

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At all times, even in adverse conditions, Paul carried an ample supply of oil for pouring onto troubled waters. Back home in London he gave the press a graphic account of our departure: ‘We were being pushed and banged around from one corner to another. With the escalators switched off we couldn’t go anywhere very fast. When they started knocking over our road managers everyone was falling all over the place. I swear there were at least 30 of them surrounding us.’ George had the final word. Asked on his arrival in London what was next on the group’s agenda he replied with only the merest a hint of a smile: ‘We’re going to have a couple of weeks to recuperate before we go and get beaten up by the Americans.’

Tony Barrow – From “John, Paul, George, Ringo & Me: The Real Beatles Story” by Tony Barrow, 2006

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George: If I go back. It will be with an H-bomb to drop on it. I intend to tip off The Rolling Stones about the place, because they are due to go there shortly.

John: I would not even fly over it now. Let alone land there.

Ringo: Go back there? You must be joking!

Paul: You can’t print my answer. I would not want my worst enemy to go there. We have never been jeered before. I must say that it is different.

George: I have never been so terrified in my life. We will never go back there.

Answering allegations about snubbing the President, The Beatles and Brian reply:

George: We knew nothing about it. Apparently at 11 o’clock in the morning, someone from the Palace saw Brian and told him that we were supposed to be at the palace.

Brian: We never got the invitation and even if we had we would have turned it down. I would much rather the boys met 300 children in India than 300 kids who just happen to be at a palace because their parents know someone.

John: All along the route to the airport, there were people waving at us, but I could also see a few old men who were booing us. There was a group of monkeys; you can’t call them anything else, waiting for us as we were about to fly out of the country. When they started on us at the airport, I was petrified! They shoved us around. I thought I was going to get hurt, so I headed for three nuns and two monks, thinking that might stop them. I think they were hoping that we would retaliate so that they could finish us off. As far as I know, I was just pushed around, but I could have been kicked and not known it.

George: Nobody likes getting beaten up, especially by a dozen half-wits who don’t really know why they are doing it.

Ringo: They were most probably customs men, because they were all wearing the same clothes and carried guns.

Reporter: Will you go back there again?

George: I didn’t even want to go there this time…

John: Neither did I.

George: … because we had heard it was a terrible place anyway, and when we got there it was proved!

Paul: Apart from Manila, the tour was just great. The kids in Tokyo went wild about us and really, the shows in Manila went well. We sang to about 100,000 people. And, of course, Germany always give us a good welcome.

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Last updated on November 4, 2023