Dark haired model Maggie McGivern was dating a photographer when in 1966 she embarked on a secret relationship with one of the most famous men in the world.

She had just taken on a steady job working for Marianne Faithful and John Dunbar, as the nanny to their little boy Nicholas, and it was while taking care of Nicholas in Marianne`s third floor Chelsea flat that she first encountered Paul McCartney. He buzzed the intercom to ask if John (Dunbar) was around, and when Paul explained who he was, Maggie invited him straight up.

"Paul ran up the stairs and came in. Very casually I told him that John wasn`t really in - and that sent us both into hysterics. We were laughing and chatting. I made a nice lunch for Marianne and a bunch of her friends but they never showed up. Paul and I sat together and ate it instead. I`ll never forget the meal - it was chicken casserole. It was such a funny introduction that it threw us both off guard. It could have been very embarrassing, but there was an immediate rapport and we just couldn`t stop talking."

Their three year courtship didn`t begin straight away though.

"It was a gradual thing. From that point on Paul kept coming up to the flat. he was very good friends with John but I knew he was coming to see me. He would ring and ask if anyone was there and if there wasn`t he would come up. We used to talk about lots of things but it was obvious to both of us that our other relationships were not going well."

Six months after their first meeting Maggie says their friendship turned into love. Paul had been recording the Revolver album and arrived at the flat with John Dunbar and some friends to listen to some demo tapes of it.

"There was something in the air that night and that`s how it all started. He ended up staying the night and we went to bed. It was wonderful. The next morning was one of the most precious moments of my life. We didn`t say much but it was such a tranquil, pleasant feeling - made all the more so because we left things unsaid. He stayed with me until lunchtime and we chatted and larked about. Everything with Paul was so natural. From that moment on he used to come round regularly."

Paul was 23 and Maggie just 20 and both still in other relationships at this point which didn`t seem a god start. There was also the added pressure of Paul`s fame, but despite their young age they were sensible enough to think up logical solutions to their predicament.

"Our relationship was a secret from day one, at first because we didn`t want Jane to find out, and later because we preferred it like that. We hardly ever went to parties. We would occasionally go to restaurants but normally we`d walk his dogs in Regents Park or go for drives in the country. We craved isolation and I for one did not want to become and overnight superstar - I certainly wasn`t ready for that emotionally."

In order for the young couple to stay together and let their relationship evolve it was essential that it remained a secret, and even a short break with friends took a great deal of forward thinking. In the first year of their relationship the couple took a trip to Paris with John Lennon and Brian Epstein, all four of them flying seperately, their seperately timed arrivals at least allowing them to stay in the same hotel together where Paul and Maggie shared a very luxurious suite.

"It was a marvellous holiday... just walking around the streets of paris. My abiding memory is of me, John and Paul lying under the Eiffel Tower, gazing up at it. We couldn`t go up because we would have been recognised, and we were masters of the art of avoiding people... We spent more time with John than we did with George and Ringo - we hardly saw them at all."

Even when they returned home their meetings had to be planned with a simular strategy.

"I don`t believe celebrities when they say they can`t keep affairs secret. We managed it quite well for more than three years... Throughout the relationship we never met in obvious places. we would go to places like auction rooms in South Kensington, and say `whoops - fancy meeting you here`... I never told any friends we were seeing each other - that was an unspoken rule. My mum and dad knew, but not in any detail."

Girls all over the world had dreams of marrying Paul McCartney, but this one girl that was actually close enough to possibly achieve it never gave it a moments thought. She was beginning to see Paul as a "permanent fixture" in her life but never planned any further than just spending time with him when and where she could.

"I know it sounds strange but I didn`t really regard it as a big deal. They were mad times and the world was changing. People look back on it now as an era- but all we were doing was living it. I knew in my heart that Paul was a real family man - working at Marianne`s we used to spend hours just looking at little Nicholas. It was obvious Pa