Shane MacGowan, a quintessential punk who ‘loved crosswords and royalty’

The hard-living Irish icon is remembered by his partner of more than 35 years as a ‘really romantic man’ after The Pogues frontman passed away age 65.

Shane MacGowan of The Pogues performing in 1987.

Shane MacGowan was, for many, the quintessential punk whose hard living and anti-establishment tirades were legendary.

Yet his widow has revealed that the late Pogues frontman was also obsessed with the British royal family, regularly did the crossword and took daily vitamin supplements.

Victoria Mary Clarke, who was with MacGowan for more than 35 years, said that he was “the kind of husband who would tell you how beautiful you were every single day” and “always buying flowers - he was just a really romantic man”.

Despite MacGowan being an avowed Irish republican who once said he regretted not having “the guts” to join the IRA, Clarke, 57, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “A lot of people wouldn’t expect this, but we both enjoyed watching programmes about royalty on telly.”

“We watched a lot of documentaries about the history of royalty [and] the big funerals. He cried when Philip died, he cried when the Queen died, he cried when Diana died. He thought a lot about the royal family, but he was an ardent republican. He had this huge love of England and also of Ireland. He was this huge weird contradiction,” she added.

MacGowan’s love of England was not just confined to the royals. “Sometimes we would be sitting there doing the Telegraph crossword, and I’d just be thinking: ‘Gosh, there’d be people out there who’d be horrified if they could see you doing the Telegraph crossword’,” said Clarke.

MacGowan performs at L'Olympia in 2012 in Paris.

The singer was born in Kent to Irish immigrant parents and his rebellious streak started at a young age, when he was kicked out of the private Westminster School for drug possession.

MacGowan had high-profile health issues over the years, including addictions to heroin and alcohol, as well as being confined to a wheelchair after breaking his pelvis in 2015 and breaking his knee in 2021. He died last Thursday of pneumonia, aged 65.

Despite his hard-won reputation for being a heavy drinker and drug user, MacGowan was not totally reckless with his health, according to Clarke. “He took vitamins every day,” she said. “He was the same person who would take 100 tabs of acid in a day, but also take vitamins.”

Clarke, a writer, said of her husband’s drinking: “It was always difficult for me because I knew when I met him that he liked to drink, but I didn’t understand that as being something challenging or difficult. I just thought everybody likes a drink - I’m from Ireland,” she said. “It took a terrible toll on his body.” Clarke also revealed that he had not drunk for the last six months.

Having founded The Pogues in 1982, MacGowan was kicked out by his bandmates in 1991 as his drinking and drug-taking became increasingly severe and led him to failing to show up for gigs, including sets when they were to open for Bob Dylan.

“I don’t think he was thrown out because of his addiction,” said Clarke. “I think he was thrown out because he wanted to be thrown out. His way of getting out of the band was to get thrown out: he had a tendency to do that. He wouldn’t just leave, he’d make the other person get rid of him.”

A candle burns next to a photograph of MacGowan at the Mansion House in Dublin.

A grassroots campaign has started since MacGowan’s death to get Fairytale of New York, his 1988 festive hit with Kirsty MacColl, to Christmas number one for the very first time.

Clarke, who met MacGowan when she was 16 and he was 24, said she felt that the pair were similar to the rowing couple in the song for whom “life has gone wrong”.

She added: “We were both very much affected by his addiction but you can still love even though you’re in that situation. You can be very desperately unhappy as well as love.”

THE TIMES