Identity of Sir Paul McCartney’s secret childhood crush revealed for first time in star’s new album
HIS love life has been almost as varied as his incredible songwriting catalogue.
Sir Paul McCartney endured the tragedy of losing first wife Linda to cancer and a catastrophic £24million divorce from Heather Mills before finally finding happiness again with American businesswoman Nancy Shevell.
But today The Sun can reveal the identity of the secret childhood crush who became Sir Paul’s “one that got away” — a pretty neighbour whose striking good looks inspired the opening track to his new album, which tells the story of his childhood in Liverpool.
The record was unveiled at a preview event in London this month, where the legendary Beatles songwriter recalled memories of a pretty neighbour called Jasmine, who lived close to his home.
Today, it has emerged she is retired mum-of-three Jasmine Howe, who left the area and resettled in Hertfordshire before retiring to the New Forest in Hampshire.
And the now 83-year-old’s family were stunned to learn of the £800million rock legend’s youthful infatuation — revealing she had “absolutely no idea” about his fondness for her.
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They explained: “It’s a cute story, she lived nearby and knew who he was, but she never got close to him — meanwhile, he obviously felt very differently!
“It’s an amazing story — a very long time ago now, but we’ve chatted as a family in the past about how Jasmine grew up close to Paul McCartney.
Goosebumps
“She just knew him as one of the boys in the local area. It’s enough to give you goosebumps!”
The Boys Of Dungeon Lane is Sir Paul’s first solo album in five years, and critics say it is his “most personal to date”.
The title is taken from Days We Left Behind, a wistful acoustic track that references Dungeon Lane, near the River Mersey, where McCartney played as a boy, as well as a “secret code” and mysterious promise made to John Lennon at the time, which he insists “will never be broken”.
At a special event, held at the iconic Abbey Road studios in London where the Fab Four produced their biggest hits, Sir Paul played tracks from the new record and explained their origins — beginning with opening song As You Lie There.
The lyrics recall: “Do I ever cross your mind as you lie there? As you lie across your bed, am I there inside your head?”
Revealing the inspiration to a small invited audience, Sir Paul explained: “Up in one of the windows, there was a girl I fancied called Jasmine.
“But I didn’t know how to approach her — I never spoke to her.
“The joke was, she did show up later that year and knocked on the door. I was indisposed — I was on the toilet — so I missed Jasmine!”
Turning to his wife Nancy, who he married in 2011, he grinned and quipped: “Sorry, Nancy.”
Prior to meeting his third wife, Macca famously had quite a colourful love life.
His first serious romance was with Dorothy ‘Dot’ Rhone, who he met at the Casbah Coffee Club in Liverpool in 1959.
The pair dated for more than two years and even got engaged, but split just before Beatlemania exploded.
In 1963, Paul met actress and model Jane Asher backstage at one of the band’s concerts.
The relationship would last five years and Paul even moved into the family home on London’s Wimpole Street.
Jane was his muse and introduced him to the avant-garde arts and classical music scene, which would inspire some of his most famous songs.
Despite being charmed by Jane’s cultured family and domestic life, Paul had secret flings with model Maggie McGivern and US writer Francie Schwartz — betrayals that ultimately shattered one of the Sixties’ most iconic romances.
He met his second wife, model and amputee activist Heather Mills, at a charity event in 1999, marrying her three years later.
Their daughter Beatrice was born the following year. However, the pair split acrimoniously three years later with a very publicly played-out divorce — one that cost the star £24million.
However, the singer enjoyed real happiness with his first wife, American photographer Linda.
They married in 1969, raised four children together, and were inseparable until her death from breast cancer in 1998.
Growing up, Sir Paul lived with his parents at 20 Forthlin Road in Allerton, Liverpool, while Jasmine lived with her family on the corner of neighbouring Hurstlyn Road, just 20 yards away.
Both properties still stand in the south Liverpool suburb, nestled in a series of brick-built terraces — though Sir Paul’s is now owned and maintained by The National Trust as a museum.
The Trust operates tours around Sir Paul’s home and also John Lennon’s childhood home nearby.
Inside, the three-bed property has been meticulously preserved as a snapshot of 1960s Liverpool, including some of the family’s original decor — and a blue plaque outside commemorates “The Birthplace of The Beatles” as Paul and pal John would meet there to compose their earliest songs.
Jasmine later married her boyfriend Charles, known to the family by his middle name, Christopher, and they had three sons — Philip, Matthew and, amusingly, Paul.
A photograph of Jasmine posted online by a family member shows her looking elegant in a navy blazer at a relative’s wedding, with carefully cropped blonde hair beneath a wide-brimmed hat.
The relative explained: “She is 83 now and lives quietly. She wouldn’t want it to become any more of a story than it is — she had no idea that Sir Paul liked her, but she’s happy to leave it as that.
“It’s a good story for our family.”
The album, released on May 29, returns the world’s greatest living songwriter to many of his early memories and experiences, with Sir Paul going on to explain more about his 18th solo collection.
He said: “This was a lot of memories of Liverpool for me, but also any days we’ve left behind.
“Everyone’s got them, school, old mates . . . It has memories of John in the middle — that’s lovely to go back to. Someone asked: ‘What’s the secret code?’ I’m not telling.
“You make up a lot of stuff when you write songs.”
And that admission may chime with Jasmine’s family, who later jokingly insisted: “She never actually knocked on his door.”
On another track, Salesman Saint, Sir Paul turns to his parents. “I was born in 1942, in the war. I was too young to appreciate that, but my parents weren’t.
“My dad was a fireman, putting out fires from the bombs. My mum was a nurse and midwife. But they carried on, because they had to.
“Like people in Ukraine, Gaza and elsewhere now.”
Meanwhile, Down South, one of the album’s most nostalgic tracks, recalls a story of hitchhiking with Lennon and fellow pal and later Beatles bandmate George Harrison.
The lyrics explain: “It was a good way to get to know you before we learned Twist & Shout.”
And reminiscing about the trip, Sir Paul reveals how he and George climbed on to a milk float.
He says: “There was the driver’s seat, a battery and a passenger seat. George got the battery. His jeans had a zip on the back and it connected with the battery. Later, he showed me the big zip burn.”
The new record was unveiled in Liverpool with a series of cryptic posters around the city.
Artwork for the project was designed by Sir Paul’s nephew, Josh.
It features cameos from Ringo Starr, The Pretenders singer Chrissie Hynde and Texas frontwoman Sharlene Spiteri.
And its release coincides with a series of major Beatles retrospectives — including Peter Jackson’s seminal Get Back documentary put together from restored archive footage that details the creation of their final album, Let It Be, and the band’s break-up.
But still to come is a major new dramatisation of the band’s rise to fame directed by Sam Mendes and with Paul Mescal as Macca.
The blockbuster will be released simultaneously as a quadrilogy in 2028, with each movie focused on one of the Fab Four’s formative years, charting their coming together as the world’s greatest musical group.
Filming with Mescal as Paul, Harris Dickinson as John, Barry Keoghan as Ringo and Joseph Quinn as George has already begun.
