Paul McCartney had ‘terrifying’ forbidden room after mum died

When Sir Paul McCartney visited his childhood home as part of his appearance on James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke in 2018 it was clear that the house still made him very emotional.

Paul’s mother Mary died in the house in 1956 aged just 47, and despite the passing of the decades, it is still a very sensitive issue.

This was a problem that the National Trust faced when they purchased the home in 1995 and began restoring it to its mid-20th century glory so that they could open it to the public.

“The fact that our mother died there is why I said to them, for years, that my mum and dad’s room was sacrosanct,” says Paul’s brother Michael.#

“I refused to let anybody in. It was too personal, too terrifying. That’s where she slept.”

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Since both brothers had long requested that the room be kept closed it required a serious discussion before they could reconsider.

“I discussed it with our kid [Paul],” Michael told the Radio Times, “and we agreed that it’s important, because there are lots of photographs of my dad, who lived through Beatlemania, and Mum had never been recognised,” he said.

“We thought that would be nice as a homage, as long as it was done discreetly.

“Visitors are now going into Mum and Dad’s bedroom and treating it with absolute respect.

“That’s what we both wanted: to acknowledge our beautiful mum and her memory.”

The house features in the first episode of BBC Two’s Hidden Treasures of the National Trust, where viewers will learn about the work that went into replicating the exact look of the home when the Beatle was growing up there.

The property, at 20 Forthlin Road, was purchased in 1955 by Mary and Jim McCartney.

Paul and bandmate John Lennon wrote many classics in the home including I Saw Her Standing There and When I’m Sixty-Four.

However, when the Beatles broke through, an endless stream of screaming visitors forced the McCartneys to move out in 1964.

In his episode of Carpool Karaoke, Sir Paul recalled his father inviting fans in for cups of tea much to his chagrin as the band tried to discourage this.

Paul has written many songs about his mother over the years. He has admitted that his first ever song, written at age 14, called I Lost My Little Girl was about her.

Most famously perhaps he wrote Let It Be following a dream about his late mum.

He confessed to James Corden in 2018: “I had a dream in the 60s where my mum who died came to me.

“She was reassuring, and she was saying, ‘It’s going to be OK just let it be’.

“She gave me the positive word. So, I woke up and I was like, ‘What did she say – let it be?’

“Let it be. I’ve never heard that. So, I wrote the song.”

You can read the full article about this episode of Hidden Treasures of the National Trust in this week’s Radio Times Coronation Special edition. Hidden Treasures of the National Trust is on BBC Two on Friday May 12 at 9pm.