Editing Eric Clapton (section)

===Relationships===
Clapton's partner from the late 1960s to 1974 was [[Alice Ormsby-Gore]], a British aristocrat. They were together for three years and were both addicted to heroin.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Coleman |first1=Ray |title=Survivor: The Authorised Biography of Eric Clapton |date=1986 |publisher=Sphere Books |location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Neal |first1=Toby |title=How Shropshire aristocrat kept Eric Clapton company during his darkest days |url=https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/features/2021/09/01/how-love-made-peers-daughter-a-rock-casualty/ |access-date=7 September 2022 |work=Shropshire Star |date=1 September 2021 |language=en |archive-date=4 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220904175551/https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/features/2021/09/01/how-love-made-peers-daughter-a-rock-casualty/ |url-status=live }}</ref> He briefly dated [[funk]] singer [[Betty Davis]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://jazztimes.com/features/eric-clapton-extra-cream/|title=Eric Clapton: Extra Cream|last=Varga|first=George|date=1 July 2006|website=JazzTimes|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225175555/https://jazztimes.com/features/eric-clapton-extra-cream/|archive-date=25 December 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/20269/1/nasty-gal-betty-davis|title=The singer, whose sexually potent 70s funk blueprint virtually created its own genre, talks about her personal soul revolution|last=Hundley|first=Jessica|date=15 June 2014|website=Dazed|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225175240/http://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/20269/1/nasty-gal-betty-davis|archive-date=25 December 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> 

Clapton became friends with George Harrison in the late 1960s and they began writing and recording music together. Clapton fell in love with [[Pattie Boyd]], who was married to Harrison at this time.<ref>Tillery, Gary (2011). Working Class Mystic: A Spiritual Biography of George Harrison. p.92. Wheaton, IL: Quest Books. </ref> Harrison and Boyd divorced in 1977 and she married Clapton on 27 March 1979, in Tucson, Arizona.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Brean |first1=Henry |title=Get back, Jo Jo: New documentary captures moment Tucson landed in Beatles hit song |url=https://tucson.com/news/local/get-back-jo-jo-new-documentary-captures-moment-tucson-landed-in-beatles-hit-song/article_9c89c8f0-53e8-11ec-9485-fb56fd5479b1.html |access-date=26 December 2021 |date=24 December 2021 |archive-date=26 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211226133926/https://tucson.com/news/local/get-back-jo-jo-new-documentary-captures-moment-tucson-landed-in-beatles-hit-song/article_9c89c8f0-53e8-11ec-9485-fb56fd5479b1.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Their marriage was marred by his infidelities and [[domestic violence]]. During a 1999 interview with ''[[The Sunday Times]]'', Clapton admitted to raping and abusing her when they were married and he was a "full-blown" alcoholic who felt entitled to sex.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://apnews.com/article/314a3a689dd3e15ebbc8d567dfadb06f|title=Clapton Admits Abusing Wife|date=27 June 1999|work=Associated Press News|access-date=26 July 2021|archive-date=14 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614121203/https://apnews.com/article/314a3a689dd3e15ebbc8d567dfadb06f|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1984, while recording ''Behind the Sun'', Clapton began a relationship with Yvonne Kelly, the manager of [[AIR Montserrat|AIR Studios Montserrat]]. Although both were married to other partners at the time, they had a daughter named Ruth Kelly Clapton in January 1985. Ruth's existence was kept from the public until the media realised she was his child in 1991.<ref>Schumacher, Michael (1992), p. 263.</ref><ref>Sandford, Christopher (1994). ''Clapton: Edge of Darkness'', Victor Gollancz, p. 210.</ref>

Clapton and Boyd tried unsuccessfully to have children, even trying [[in vitro fertilisation]] in 1984, but were faced instead with miscarriages.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Boyd |first1=Pattie |last2=Junor |first2=Penny |title=Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me |publisher=Random House |year=2008 |page=233 |isbn=978-0307450227}}</ref> He had an affair with Italian model [[Lory Del Santo]], who gave birth to their son, Conor, on 21 August 1986. Clapton and Boyd later divorced in 1989 after she was "utterly devastated" by his confession to impregnating Del Santo during this affair. Conor died on 20 March 1991 at the age of four after falling out of an open bedroom window on the 53rd floor of a Manhattan apartment building.<ref>Details on Del Santo and their son:
*{{cite news|first=Steve|last=Halvonik|url=https://www.post-gazette.com/ae/books/2018/12/21/Slowhand-Life-Music-Eric-Clapton-Philip-Norman/stories/201812230009|newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|title='Slowhand' uncovers the traumas, tragedies and triumphs of Eric Clapton|date=21 December 2018|access-date=28 August 2021|archive-date=28 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210828235204/https://www.post-gazette.com/ae/books/2018/12/21/Slowhand-Life-Music-Eric-Clapton-Philip-Norman/stories/201812230009|url-status=live}}
*{{cite news|url=https://apnews.com/article/b8f92979f389bfe3421c68fc2d35966b|work=Associated Press News|title=Eric Clapton's Son Killed in Fall from 53rd Floor Window|first=Rick|last=Hampson|date=20 March 1991|access-date=28 August 2021|archive-date=23 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210723131011/https://apnews.com/article/b8f92979f389bfe3421c68fc2d35966b|url-status=live}}
*{{cite magazine|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2007/11/clapton200711|title=Eric Clapton's Salvation Road|first=Eric|last=Clapton|magazine=Vanity Fair|date=22 October 2007|access-date=28 August 2021}}</ref>

In 1998, Clapton, then 53, met 22-year-old administrative assistant Melia McEnery in [[Columbus, Ohio]], at a party given for him after a performance. He quietly dated her for a year, and went public with the relationship in 1999. They married on {{nowrap|1 January}} 2002 at St Mary Magdalene Church in Clapton's birthplace, [[Ripley, Surrey|Ripley]]. They have three daughters.