There were times when he would be mobbed by thousands of screaming fans every time he tried to step out the door.
But those days were far behind Paul McCartney when he was spotted sitting alone on a train out of London – without a bodyguard or entourage in sight.
The 75-year-old Beatle boarded the Kings Cross to Hastings, East Sussex, train on his own and took up a seat in first class.
Onlookers said he passed the time by looking at his phone – an old-school Nokia – and reading the paper on Monday in the early evening.
And unlike his heyday when he couldn’t move for fainting teenage girls and screaming fans, he was only approached by three or four admirers.
One onlooker, a 21-year-old city worker, said: “He was on his own without any bodyguards or staff.
“Only a few people stopped to say hello and that it was nice to see him.
“He didn’t want photos but he was very polite and happy to chat, taking about a new album he has coming out.
“It was unusual seeing such a massive music star just sat on his own.”
McCartney lives on a 1,500 acre estate in Peasmarsh, East Sussex.
