Maureen Starkey Tigrett - Ringo Starr

Ringo Starr

At the age of 15, Cox became a regular at The Cavern Club, and remembered the long queues to get in, and the competition between fans: "I never joined the queue until about two or three hours before it opened, because it frightened me. There were fights and rows amongst the girls, and when the doors opened the first ones would tear in, knocking each other over". She once kissed Paul McCartney for a bet, but developed a crush on Starr, kissing him as well and getting his autograph, but it was not until three weeks later that Starr took any notice of her. He later admitted to having no recollection of their first meeting, as there were so many other fans doing the same thing at the time. She later always referred to Starr as "Ritchie", being an abbreviation of his real name, Richard Starkey.

The Beatles' appearances were sometimes violent, with fans vying for the band members' attention, and after some fans realised she was dating Starr, Cox was often threatened. She was once viciously scratched on the face by a fan on 14 February 1963, as she was waiting in Starr's car outside the Locarno ballroom, Liverpool. She said: "I had to be careful because of the fans. I might easily have been killed otherwise. Not being married was all part of their image, and none of them were supposed to have steadies ". She later had to stop working as a hairdresser because of continuing threats. In September 1963, with her parents' permission, she travelled to Greece with Starr, McCartney and Jane Asher.

On 3 June 1964, the day before an international tour, Starr collapsed during an early morning photo session for the Saturday Evening Post at a photographer's studio in Barnes, London. Stricken with a 102-degree fever and tonsillitis, he was rushed to the hospital. Cox visited the hospital every day to help Starr recuperate, bringing him ice cream, and after his convalescence they became a monogamous couple. On 20 January 1965, Starr proposed marriage to Cox at the Ad-Lib Club, which was above the Prince Charles Theatre at 7 Leicester Place, London.