Shared with permission from Aidan Clegg. Posted on the Charlie Watts Appreciation Group on Facebook.

Apologies in advance for the long post, I'll try to keep it as short as possible. Apologies also for what might seem like a self-indulgent post, that's not my intention. It's just a short story that illustrates the kindness of Charlie, the man we all know and miss and Shirley, an equally kind and generous person who's also greatly missed too.

Many moons ago, myself and my then wife worked for Charlie & Shirley for 4 years at their main home in Devon, England.
In June 1999, the Stones were doing a couple of dates at Wembley Stadium as part of the No Security Tour and Mrs Watts (we never called her Shirley, she was the boss!) asked if I'd like some tickets and naturally l said yes please!
Fast forward to the 11th June and we were delighted to find out our tickets also gave us access to the pre concert VIP Lounge...with complimentary drinks.
It was in this lounge, surrounded by celebrities and sports stars that we realised how utterly unimportant we were !
Understandably we were getting a few strange looks from people with a "Who the heck are you guys" expressions on their faces.
Feeling like fish out of water we took our drinks and retreated to the shadowy safety of the furthest corner of the room and kept our heads down in the wallflower tradition.
It was at this point that our knight in shining armour appeared from behind a huge velvet curtain. Charlie (or Mr. Watts as l always addressed him) strolled across the lounge, ignoring everyone and headed straight for us. He shock my hand, gave my wife a hug and shook hands with my best friend and his wife. He asked how our journey was etc and ended with "Enjoy the show and see you back at the ranch on Monday" and with that he strolled back across the room and back behind the curtain, politely ignoring all the Great and the Good.
That simple act of kindness and thoughtfulness made us feel like the most important people not only in the room but in the whole stadium and personifies what a thoughtful gentleman he was.

Thanks Mr.& Mrs.Watts, it was an honour

Wasn't looking too good, but I was feeling real well.

Fabulous story of a true gentle-man and -woman. Appreciate you reposting CindyC.

Good old Charlie. "Let's drink to the hard-working people" ...and ignore everyone else in the room LOL.

Thx for posting

Great post Cindy, typical how the Watts family act

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northof49
Good old Charlie. "Let's drink to the hard-working people" ...and ignore everyone else in the room LOL.

Thx for posting

On FB, I said the same, about ignoring the famous people, but Aidan responded that that was not the case…. His response…


I don't want Charlie to come across as rude by ignoring the "celebs" because obviously he wasn't like that. He gave a nod or two to people he obviously knew but for reasons I'll never understand he made a beeline for us. My only theory is that he saw us looking uncomfortable on a CCTV screen behind the velvet curtain

I didn't ask and we'll never know.
Suffice to say we suddenly became "persons of interest" amongst the VIPs. Someone asked me how l knew Charlie and l said I'm his gardener and they thought l was joking

Feel free to share it on IORR site, unfortunately I'm not a member and don't know how to do it.

Wasn't looking too good, but I was feeling real well.

So lovely!

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CindyC

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northof49
Good old Charlie. "Let's drink to the hard-working people" ...and ignore everyone else in the room LOL.

Thx for posting

On FB, I said the same, about ignoring the famous people, but Aidan responded that that was not the case…. His response…


I don't want Charlie to come across as rude by ignoring the "celebs" because obviously he wasn't like that. He gave a nod or two to people he obviously knew but for reasons I'll never understand he made a beeline for us. My only theory is that he saw us looking uncomfortable on a CCTV screen behind the velvet curtain

I didn't ask and we'll never know.
Suffice to say we suddenly became "persons of interest" amongst the VIPs. Someone asked me how l knew Charlie and l said I'm his gardener and they thought l was joking

Feel free to share it on IORR site, unfortunately I'm not a member and don't know how to do it.

Thx for the clarification Cindy.

Another nice little anecdote telling the man’s personality. So touching.

I was at both dates at the old Wembley Stadium 1999, my first Stones shows on their home turf, which makes me feel it come home even more.

Wonderful story and thank you for sharing it. Miss them.

Thanks for sharing.
He was a true Gentleman.

A similar story about Charlie from a friend of my daughter who's mother worked in a dentist practice in Melbourne:

During the February 2003 gigs in Melbourne Charlie had an abyss in his tooth and had a dentist had to be found quickly. Security cased the place out firstly then Charlie came in, had the operation and upon leaving invited the dentist and the staff to one of the Melb shows including backstage passes. The receptionist said he was the loveliest man.

pool's in but the patio ain't dry

Thanks for sharing his story, Cindy

Glad you guys are liking this story. I loved it!

Wasn't looking too good, but I was feeling real well.

True kind gentleman! Unfazed by celebrity….