Beatle's Last Wish (How he wound up in L.A.)
GEORGE HARRISON summoned the world's greatest private eye to his
sickbed to map out secret plans for his own funeral.
And today the News of the World can detail the meticulous
arrangements that the two men carefully wrote down: the secret
blueprint for the death of a superstar.
We can also reveal that former Beatle George was cremated within just
NINE HOURS of passing away.
Desperate to keep gawping crowds away from his wife Olivia and son
Dhani, George turned to Gavin de Becker, security guru to stars such
as Cher, Michelle Pfeiffer, Joan Rivers, Jeff Goldblum and Brooke
Shields.
De Becker also helped comic Bill Cosby to capture the killer of his son Ennis.
The meeting took place at George's bedside in New York's Staten
Island University Hospital. His wife Olivia, 53, was there too,
though 24-year-old son Dhani could not bring himself to help plan the
secret disposal of his father's body.
De Becker, who has become George's close friend, started with a pen
and a blank sheet of paper on his lap and began writing. Thirty
minutes later the list was complete.
POINT 1: One of the most heart-rending of all. George would not
return to Friar Park, the Henley-on-Thames mansion he had lovingly
restored into one of the great stately homes of England. Nor would he
ever see Liverpool again.
Epitaph
A source told the News of the World: "He knew if he died at Friar
Park there'd be crowds outside the gate and it would be a circus. His
body would have to be taken out by hearse or undertaker's van, and he
didn't want that photograph as his epitaph. Nor did he want a scrum
at the church or crematorium."
POINT 2: George could not be allowed to die in hospital, certainly
not a New York hospital anyway. His death would immediately become
public knowledge, crowds would gather and there would be a
free-for-all as his body was removed. The hearse would have to crawl
through streets clogged with traffic at any time of day or night and
would be impossible to miss.
POINT 3: The most macabre of all. George was faced with the awful
question: "Where shall I die?" At one point George contemplated
ending his days in his Hawaii home. This was ruled out. Maui airport
is relatively small and George would have been recognized and his
home besieged.
De Becker suggested his own large home in Beverly Hills. It had the
space and the privacy and De Becker himself would be on home
territory with all the vast security resources he could make
available. It was vital, though, that George should get to De
Becker's home secretly.
POINT 4: He would also need painkillers, especially diamorphine, and
the journey from New York all the way to Beverly Hills would be too
arduous for someone in his condition. They planned a stop-over at Los
Angeles UCLA Medical Centre for 'pain management'. George signalled
his approval. Every last second of his life was finally mapped out.
Now all that remained were the details of his own funeral service.
POINT 5: A doctor would be on hand to provide a death certificate,
allowing virtually immediate cremation. A local Los Angeles funeral
home would be notified to expect an unidentified male deceased. A
nondenominational chapel was chosen for a funeral service before
moving on to a crematorium.
His ashes would be scattered in the Far East, where George first
famously let his spirituality blossom with the rest of The Beatles
under Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Crucially that meant building in a 10-12
hour gap between his death and the release of that news to the world.
George, 58, had been told on or about November 14 that it was
unlikely he could survive another month. After being treated for lung
and throat cancer, he had been diagnosed with a malignant brain
tumor. On Saturday, November 17, it was decided that he would leave
the New York hospital as the De Becker plan was put into operation.
He had just a few days to say goodbye to his dearest friends, for the
rest of his secret journey would have to be made without them.
He picked up the telephone and dialed his elder sister Louise
Harrison. After a bitter family row they had hardly spoken for ten
years. Louise, 63, who has lived in America since 1963, immediately
flew from Illinois where she runs a small hotel called A Hard Day's
Night. A friend of hers said: "She and George hugged and said all was
forgiven. They both cried. George told her, 'None of it matters any
more'."
She would later be devastated when news of his death was released.
Among the next on George's list were Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.
Paul visited George and listened tearfully as Harrison is thought to
have calmly told him: "I won't be here for Christmas."
Ringo was in Boston, Massachusetts, nursing his own daughter who is
suffering from cancer. "He said he'd fly over that night," said our
source. "He also said he'd cancel his band's tour of Canada to be
with George to the end."
Vigil
George told him not to, and added: "I'm at peace."
Ringo would be touring with his band in Canada when the news of his
old friend's death reached him.
On Saturday, November 17, George was told by doctors that he could be
taken from New York. With no publicity he boarded a private jet to
LA's small Santa Monica airport. From there he entered UCLA Medical
Centre, just as planned.
On Tuesday as Harrison's condition deteriorated, he was taken to
Beverly Hills in a closed, unmarked ambulance. For the next 36 hours,
Harrison drifted in and out of consciousness. Olivia and Dhani
maintained a constant vigil. The only 'outsider' allowed to visit was
his great friend Ravi Shankar who played gentle sitar music.
An intravenous drip fed glucose into George's body. Occasionally he
took sips from a liquid diamorphine drink.
The end came at 1.30pm on Thursday Los Angeles time-9.30pm in
Britain. His two best friends from the Krishna faith, Shayam Sundara
and Mukunda, who George has known for more than 30 years, were said
to be chanting quietly into their meditation beads as he passed away.
At 10.30pm in LA, by now 6.30 on Friday morning in Britain, George
had been cremated. In a Hare Krishna funeral service George's simple
wood coffin was sprinkled with rose petals, and the air was filled
with essence of sandalwood.
There were no hymns. A Hare Krishna priest read from the
Bhagavad-Gita, a series of sacred Hindu verses. Krishna expert Radha
Mohan explained: "The body has always been cremated as soon as
possible in India and the ashes scattered on a sacred river. It is
beneficial for the soul on its eternal journey."
At midnight in LA, 8am in London, news of his death was released. By
this time a plane was in the air with Olivia, Dhani and George's
ashes. It was the same Learjet that had flown George from New York.
De Becker had secured the 10 hours of space and private time that the
family needed.
A source close to de Becker told the News of the World: "It was a
classic Gavin operation to spoil any unwelcome attention."
George's ashes have to be scattered over a holy river as the Krishna
faith forbids ashes being scattered over land.
Members of the faith believe George had chosen either the Ganges or
the River Yamuna in Northern India, 40 miles from the Taj Mahal.
Kripa Moya Das, of the International Society for Krishna
Consciousness, explained: "This holy river (the Yamuna) runs through
Mr Harrison's favorite spiritual retreat in Northern India." |
