Anita Pallenberg on sex, drugs and her time with the Rolling Stones

Anita Pallenberg was the quintessential Londoner who sparked off more trends than Jesus, knew more people than God and was more respected than the Virgin Mary.

In truth, she was the Sixties/Seventies equivalent of her dear friend Kate Moss. Indeed, known as the fifth Rolling Stone, her relationship with the band began in 1965 with a tempestuous two-year relationship with Bryan Jones after which she went out with Keith Richards and had three children – Marlon, Dandelion and their late daughter Tara.

I first met her in 1981 when I introduced her to Iggy Pop, then didn’t see her till the Millennium New Year’s Eve bash at Ronnie Woods, Subsequently, we’d bump into each other at highfalutin soirees and always end up sitting in the corner of the room together, neither of us that amused by the, at times, pretentious party peeps. Anita had seen it all and was only impressed by things you can’t buy, such as honesty, loyalty and a free spirit.

Later, I became close friends with her son Marlon and was often happy to housesit his property in West Sussex with Anita, my wife and my son who loved her. It was here at close quarters, away from the kafuffle of noisy groovy London parties, that I discovered just how remarkable a lady Anita was.

Finally, this reality has at last been celebrated in a documentary, Catching Fire, that is based on her recently-discovered memoirs. The