Paul McCartney, 81, ‘dedicates exhibition to ex-fiance Jane Asher, 77, after she dumped him’

Sir Paul McCartney has allocated part of his National Portrait Gallery exhibition to ex-fiancée Jane Asher.

The former Beatle, 81, was unceremoniously dumped by the actress, now 77, on live TV in 1968 as he watched in shock from home.

However, time proves to be a wonderful healer and Paul has dedicated part of his new exhibition Paul McCartney Photographs 1963-64: Eyes of the Storm to his former love and her family.

The mirror reports that the small area, called Home with the Ashers, shows black and white photos of the actress described as Paul’s “inspiration.”

Note that: ‘with Jane as inspiration…the results are more intimate and thoughtful than other images he shot at the time.’

Dumped: The former Beatle, 80, was unceremoniously dumped by the actress, now 77, on live TV in 1968 as he watched in shock from home (pictured together in 1968)

It also documents the story of how the pair met at a concert broadcast by the BBC when Paul was just 21 and Jane, 17, before embarking on a five-year romance.

The musician then lived with her family for three years and learned a lot from her music professor mother Margaret. And wrote classic hits I Want to Hold Your Hand, And I Love Her while staying at home.

As Paul muses, “The Asher family put me up in an attic room on the top floor, and I think this self-portrait was done in the mirror in that room. Not only did the Ashers give me a home away from home, but it was full of interesting people and conversation, and it was also a really good place to write.”

At the time, Jane was a star in her own right having risen to prominence as a young actress and panellist on BBC’s hugely popular and influential Juke Box Jury.

She ended the relationship with the pop superstar during her appearance on the chat show Dee Time, saying, “I didn’t break it up, but it’s over.”

Paul was later married to Eastman from 1969 until her death in 1998, with whom he shared four children.

He next married Heather Mills in 2002 and welcomed a daughter before their divorce in 2008, he later married businesswoman Nancy Shevell in 2011.

Commitment: It also documents the story of how the pair met at a concert broadcast by the BBC when Paul was just 21 and Jane, 17, before embarking on a five-year romance (Jane pictured in April)

Sweet: The Mirror reports that the small area, called Home with the Ashers, shows black and white photos of the actress described as Paul’s “inspiration” (pictured in 1967)

Meanwhile, Jane shares three grown children with her cartoonist husband Gerald Scarfe, whom she married in 1981.

Sir Paul and his wife Nancy seemed in good spirits as they sat together during a private viewing of the exhibition on Monday.

He looked smart in a black suit and light blue shirt as American Nancy, 63, rested her head on his shoulder.

She was seen smiling as the pair posed for a photo of Sir Paul’s band The Beatles, wearing a blue satin dress that was cinched at the waist.

A series of photographs taken by Sir Paul McCartney is on display at the National Portrait Gallery in London from Tuesday.

Big night: Sir Paul and his wife Nancy appeared in good spirits as they snuggled together during the private viewing of the exhibition on Monday

Glitz: Sir Paul was joined by a number of friends at the exhibition, including 71 Pretenders singer Chrissie Hynde, who posed alongside him

Snaps: The 81-year-old icon took the photos during the early days of The Beatles, and Sir Paul offered them to the gallery after she came across the photos in 2020 (the late John Lennon pictured)

Snapshot: Sir Paul took the photos between December 1963 and February 1964, and they include behind-the-scenes shots of the band’s first TV appearance in the US (Ringo Starr pictured)

The 81-year-old icon took the photos during the early days of The Beatles, and Sir Paul offered them to the gallery – which has reopened to the public after three years of renovations – after she came across the photos in 2020.

Dr. Nicholas Cullinan, the gallery’s director, said: ‘The McCartney exhibition is very interesting.

“Actually, Sir Paul approached us, I think back in 2020, and said he found these photos that he remembered taking but thought were lost. And so we sat down with him and started going through the pictures and they are really extraordinary.’

Sir Paul took the photos between December 1963 and February 1964, and they also include behind-the-scenes footage of the band’s first TV appearance in the US.

Paul McCartney Photographs 1963-64: Eyes of the Storm runs from June 28 to October 1.

Nicholas added: “To see these unprecedented images, of such a well-documented, such a famous and important cultural moment…

“And the fact that they were made by someone who really, as the exhibition title implies, looked out into the eye of the storm to see what was happening.”

Sir Paul says John Lennon, the bandmate of his late Beatles, “had a tragic life.”