July 7, 1964 - Princess Margaret met the Beatles in the foyer of the London Pavilion theatre last night. She arrived with her husband, Tony Armstrong-Jones, and was met by 12,000 screaming, chanting fans who jammed Piccadilly-circus.
The occasion? The premiere of “A Hard Day’s Night,” the four boys’ first film.
First, the Princess shook hands with drummer Ringo Starr as John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison looked on.
Then she asked Paul: “What do you think of the film?”
Said Paul: “I don’t think we are very good, Ma’am. But we had a very good producer.”
Next Tony asked George: “What is the meaning of that phrase you use in the film, ‘That shirt is very grotty?’”
George explained that “grotty” is the with-it word for grotesque. Tony laughed and said he had seen the word in newspaper reviews.
As soon as the Princess and her husband had left the foyer, the girl program sellers — wearing short evening dresses featuring Beatle pictures — asked the group to sign their dresses.
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