Sheila Farebrother described David Furnish as “that thing” and said he was to blame for a seven-year feud between her and Sir Elton.
The star sent her an orchid for her 90th birthday this month, the first communication she has had since their blazing but “petty” argument.
Explaining the row, she said Sir Elton had asked her to break off ties to old friends Bob Halley, Elton’s personal assistant for more than 30 years, and John Reid, his manager during the early years, which she refused. “I told him, ‘I’m not about to do that and drop them. Bob is like a son to me.
He has always been marvelous to me and he lives nearby and keeps an eye on me’,” she said.
She said Elton then launched a foul tirade at her. “Then, to my utter amazement, he told me he hated me. And he then banged the phone down. Imagine. To me, his mother.”
According to Sheila, he was not used to being disobeyed and she told a newspaper: “I had no intention of dropping John and Bob and I told Elton so. He told me I thought more of Bob Halley than I did of my own son.
“And to that I said to him, ‘And you think more of that ******* thing you married than your own mother’.”
Sheila, who lives in West Sussex, said many of Elton’s old friends were “got rid of” and were no longer invited to parties, something she puts down to Furnish.
She added that the couple, who met in 1993, care more about famous and wealthy friends than those Elton has known for many years.
She said she had refused to wear a hat at the couple’s civil ceremony, which annoyed Furnish, and shortly before the service at Windsor Guildhall in 2005 she was told by his secretary that she would not be included in the official photographs. She said of the singer’s husband: “I’d like to give Furnish a punch right on the bloody earhole. If I had the chance, I’d do it.”
Despite at first being happy at his stabilising influence on her son, Sheila now places Furnish at the centre of their feud and says she was particularly saddened that the animosity meant Elton missed his step-father Fred Farebrother’s funeral.
Sheila’s husband for 40 years and Elton’s stepfather since he was 15, Fred had helped Elton on his way to stardom and a £235million fortune by driving him and his first band to gigs after working all day.
Sheila said: “You do these things, don’t you, for those you love?” When Fred died aged 88 in 2010 she was distraught that he had not visited him in hospital or gone to the funeral.
Sheila, who lives in a house paid for by her son, poignantly hired an Elton John impersonator to perform to 80 guests at her birthday party two weeks ago, but she says she has moved on from the hurt and just hopes her son is leading a contented life.
“I’ve had all the upset and the crying and the worrying and the nastiness. I’ve got over it now and I’ve got a nice life.
“I just hope he’s as happy as I am.”
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