|
HE
is the Peter Pan of pop, the star who has refused to grow
old despite a career that started in the 50s and is still
going strong on the verge of the new Millennium. Yet while
just about anyone can name one of Sir Cliff Richard's 87 Top
20 hits, his home life has remained shrouded in
mystery.until now.
For
almost a decade Jill Clark lived in his £1.5million mansion
and was part of his life - an experience which veered from
the wildly eccentric to the blandly suburban.
She
entered Cliff's world after becoming the girlfriend of his
best friend and manager Bill Latham, who shared the star's
home. But right from the start it was Cliff who laid down
the house rules. Jill was forced to become celibate and
sleep in a separate bedroom from Bill because of Cliff's
Christian beliefs. And it was Jill who had to stay at home
alone to look after Cliff's pet dogs while he took Bachelor
Boy holidays with Bill.
Then
finally, when Bill found another woman, it was Cliff who
broke the bad news.
During
her time at Cliff's six-bedroom mansion in Weybridge,
Surrey, the threesome slept in separate rooms along the same
corridor.
"Cliff
was at one end, me in the middle and Bill at the
other," said Jill. "It was a strange situation but
was just something you had to get used to."And Bill and
I would never show signs of our relationship in front of
Cliff. Bill said it would have offended Cliff's Christian
morals, so I couldn't show affection or kiss and cuddle him.
"It was extraordinary and very difficult to explain.
But we managed to settle into a very happy
relationship."I'm sure Bill and Cliff gave each other
some sort of emotional support. "They had a very close
supportive relationship. They would go away for a holiday
every August for what they called their bachelor holiday.
"It was something that they had done for years and
years and I just had to accept it."
But
Cliff's bedroom was his own private haven. Decorated in pale
grey and yellow with a huge study, widescreen TV and lavish
bathroom with a gold tub, it was the place where he relaxed
alone.
Jill
says she believes the reason he has never formed a
relationship with anyone since TV presenter and tennis star
Sue Barker was because of his career and his faith. "He
believed that if he were to marry his wife would have to be
No. 1. He couldn't do that so he decided it was better to
have no-one than make somebody his No. 2.
CLIFF
was just too busy to have a |
proper
relationship with Sue. They they went out for meals and
spent a lot of time together but I'm not sure how far the
relationship went. "Cliff took her to the Bahamas, but
when they came back he phoned her and told her it was
finished, even though they were very fond of each
other."
Jill,
48, first met and fell in love with Bill in her native South
Africa 16 years ago. The relationship began with a series of
letters and she did not hesitate when he eventually asked
her to join him in England. "To begin with I lived with
Sue Barker - Cliff was still going out with her at the time
- but then after he broke up with her I rented a flat of my
own. "I spent more and more time at Cliff's and
eventually moved in." Cliff, Bill and Jill soon
developed their own family routine. "I would cook a
meal for them or on Saturdays bake fresh bread and the three
of us would sit in the kitchen to eat." And when
celebrity friends like Michael Barrymore and Michael Ball
came to dinner, she did the cooking. "I used to cook
dinner with the help of Marks and Spencer quite a lot in
those days," admits Jill who once cooked a meal of pork
chops for the exiled King and Queen of Romania. "Cliff
was always the gravy maker and he loved Indian food. "I
would cook, then Cliff would wash up and Bill would do the
drying." In the summer Cliff would hold garden parties,
and take charge of the barbecue. There would be fancy dress
themes, but the trio would surprise their guests by turning
up dressed in traditional evening wear.
Even
though Jill was there, Cliff and Bill still clung to their
same routine. She was rarely involved in their social life,
and seldom invited to parties with them. "Cliff and
Bill were committed Christians and spent a lot of time doing
Christian work at churches," she said. "They were
like close-knit brothers. For Cliff, Bill was someone to
turn to." But there was one rare social occasion when
Jill was invited along and met Princess Diana, a friend of
Cliff's. "We went to dinner at a mutual friend's house.
Diana was one of the guests and very nice."
At
home, Bill, Cliff and Jill would swim in the pool or watch
hours of TV together. Cliff loved horror movies, especially
"anything nasty." His favourite film is Alien.
While Cliff and Bill watched TV, Jill looked after the dogs.
"They would become engrossed in the TV so I would take
the dogs out for a walk or go to my room. But we would all
watch Coronation Street
together."
AFTERNOONS
were spent pottering in |
the
garden. Every Christmas, Cliff would stay at home, then jet
to his home in Portugal for New Year. "I would cook
dinner and we would exchange gifts although Cliff was
difficult to buy presents for," said Jill. "What
do you buy the man who has everything?"
Jill
says Cliff liked to buy personal gifts for herself and Bill.
"He often bought jackets or shirts for Bill from an
expensive boutique. For me he sometimes bought jogging suits
or sweaters."
Cliff
drove a Bentley with the personalised number plate reading
"Move It" after his first hit single. He also
drove a Mercedes and a Range Rover. Bill had a Mercedes with
his own personal plates, but Jill stuck to the Renault Clio
bought with savings from her part-time office job.
And
although things seemed happy on the surface, Jill admits she
often longed to be a bride. She pleaded with Bill to marry
her so that they would no longer have to hide their feelings
from Cliff. But Jill says she left the decisions to Bill.
"He always decided matters like that. In my heart I was
committed to him. I felt I was married without having a
piece of paper to prove it."
The
relationship finally ended when Bill dumped her after
becoming infatuated with a young secretary at his office.
Jill came home to find the letter on her bed written by
Bill. "He wrote me a letter which I found while he and
Cliff had gone away to film a TV show. "It was just
left there for me to find on the bed. I was absolutely
shattered and didn't stop crying for a month."
Although
Jill believes Bill's new affair was never consummated, it
left his relationship with her in tatters. But it wasn't
until two months later that she was told by Cliff that it
would be best for her to leave the house. "It was Cliff
who had to speak to me. He said, 'We need to find somewhere
for you to go'. "Initially he said that it should be a
place nearby so that I could see the dogs. "The dogs
are my saving grace now. I get all the love I need from
them."
Now,
nearly two years later, Jill has lost more than a stone in
weight and lives around the corner from her former love Bill
in a house bought by Sir Cliff. Bill now lives on the same
estate with his new love, journalist Pia Hoffman, while
Cliff lives alone for the first time in his life.
But
Jill still holds on to her hopes. "We were happy
together as a unit," she said. "If Bill came back
to me now I would welcome him back with open arms. providing
he put a ring on my finger." |
