Paul McCartney explains why he has a "radical" no photos with fans policy

14 May 2026, 12:28 | Updated: 15 May 2026, 10:27

Sir Paul McCartney doesn't want to be a performing monkey.

Paul McCartney has explained why he no longer takes photos with fans.

The Beatles legend was speaking on the Rest is Entertainment podcast when he set out why he urges fans to put their cameras away when they cross paths with him.

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“So if I meet someone, they're reaching for their phone, and I say, 'I'm sorry, I don't do pictures'," McCartney said. "That is radical these days.

"I told that to Oprah – I’m name-dropping now – and she said. 'You don’t do pictures?'. I said, 'No.' She said, 'Why?' I said, 'I don’t want to.' It’s as simple as that."

Listen to The Rest Is Entertainment

He added: "The minute I start thinking I’m something above myself, I won’t like me.

"It's very important for me to just be me. So I say to people, 'I don’t want to do photos.'

"And they say, 'Why?' And I say, 'I'll tell you what...' – and I go into this long explanation about how, down on the south coast of France in Saint-Tropez, there’s a man on the beachfront who has a monkey, and you pay to have your photo taken with the monkey.

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"I really do not want to feel like that monkey. And when I take a picture with someone, I do feel like him. I’m not me any more – I'm suddenly something else."

Meanwhile, Macca has announced his 21s solo album The Boys of Dungeon Lane, which is released on May 29.

It has been trailed by two nostalgic singles, 'Days We Left Behind' and the Ringo Starr duet 'Home To Us'.