The secrets of Neil Aspinall, The Beatles’ close friend, ‘fixer’ and confidant, are likely to never come to light following his death yesterday (March 24).

Aspinall was close to The Beatles throughout their entire career, and was head of Apple Corps until last year.

However, he never wrote a memoir, and was keen to keep his time with the band private.

The Beatles’ biographer Hunter Davies speculated on the secrets he could reveal in a piece on The Guardian’s website, saying: “I asked him countless times, saying he should get it all down, before it’s too late, if just for his children. He always said no.

“Neil was there from the very beginning, a constant friend and associate, never leaving the magical mystery circle, until a few months ago when he retired as head of Apple Corps, looking after their business interests.”

One tale that has only just come to light is of Aspinall’s affair with Mona Best, mother of The Beatles’ first drummer Pete Best, even having a son, Victor Roag Best, with her in 1962, when he was 19.

Davies writes that John Lennon had told him this in 1967 but had sworn him to secrecy, on the same day the singer had confessed he and manager Brian Epstein had had a one-night stand a few years before.