George Harrison’s widow blocks campaign to erect statue of late former Beatle

Olivia Harrison says she would prefer a community project in honour of the late guitarist

George Harrison’s widow has halted a campaign to erect a statue of the late Beatle near his Oxfordshire home.

James Lambert, from Henley-on-Thames, where Harrisson lived until his death in 2001, wrote to Olivia Harrison about his campaign to erect a bronze statue in The Beatles guitarist’s honour. She replied stating that she would prefer a community project instead.

“The statue could create problems of different types of fans turning up, the unwanted fans,” Lambert told the BBC. “Gauging the pulse in terms of Henley residents I think there was a lot of support. This petition wasn’t tapping into the Beatles fanfare worldwide, it was much more to recognise George’s contribution to Henley and the affection Henley had for him.”

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He added: “I think the danger was it wouldn’t just become a Henley acknowledgement of George’s work but would encourage more people to visit Henley… I think what she’s suggesting in terms of a community project would be great and it’ll be very exciting to see exactly how this transpires.”

Harrison moved to Henley-on-Thames in the 1970s when he bought a large stately home, saving it from demolition. The former Beatle died of cancer in 2001 aged 58.

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