Sir Cliff enjoyed, fame, fortune and adulation beyond most people’s wildest dreams. He hung out with Princess Diana and maintained lifelong friendships with numerous celebrities. Yet, he has kept his private life notoriously very private and little has ever been known about his personal romantic relationships.

His friends, though, have openly spoken devotedly of him. Mike Reid says his feet always remained firmly fixed on the ground: “To us, he’s just a regular guy. If he’s beaten in tennis, he’s beaten. If someone didn’t buy his records, he would think, ‘I’ll try harder at the next one’.

“He doesn’t have that elevated thing about him. If we went round to play tennis, it isn’t, ‘Oh, Cliff will provide the tea.’ Someone would take cake and someone else would take scones.”