# Why was Julian Lennon left out of John Lennon's will? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 26, 2016, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-julian-lennon-left-out-of-john-lennons-will/744308 "2016-01-26T22:03:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![m30wc0w](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aca169/32.png) [@m30wc0w](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/m30wc0w)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-julian-lennon-left-out-of-john-lennons-will/744308/1 "2016-01-26T22:03:19Z")
I’ve heard some say that it’s because Yoko Ono was very manipulative. He also did get some money which he split with his half-brother. However, the amount seemed so minuscule as to be irrelevant (100, 000). ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-julian-lennon-left-out-of-john-lennons-will/744308/2 "2016-01-26T22:43:54Z")
Because John Lennon wasn’t all that he was cracked up to be, and pretty much a dick as a dad. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-julian-lennon-left-out-of-john-lennons-will/744308/3 "2016-01-26T22:50:45Z")
He was a bastard child? Well, a love child is more precise. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-julian-lennon-left-out-of-john-lennons-will/744308/4 "2016-01-26T22:52:10Z")
Julian resented how his father had treated him and his mother. John had distanced himself from Julian for many years. Perhaps if John had lived another 20 years the will might have been changed, but he didn’t, and it wasn’t. Julian ended up all right in the end it seems. according to [wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Lennon)… Lennon was excluded from his father’s will. However, a trust of £100,000 was created by his father to be shared between all of his children (both Julian and Sean).[11][12] Julian sued his father’s estate and in 1996 reached a settlement agreement reportedly worth £20 million. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-julian-lennon-left-out-of-john-lennons-will/744308/5 "2016-01-26T22:53:34Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#): > > He was a bastard child? No… John was married to Cynthia at the time of Julian’s birth. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-julian-lennon-left-out-of-john-lennons-will/744308/6 "2016-01-26T22:58:16Z")
Because John Lennon was a bastard father? ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-julian-lennon-left-out-of-john-lennons-will/744308/7 "2016-01-26T23:13:06Z")
They didn’t have a good relationship. In Julian’s words, from his foreword to his mother Cynthia’s book: “I know that Dad was an idol to millions who grew up loving his music and his ideals. But to me he wasn’t a musician or a peace icon, he was the father I loved and who let me down in so many ways. After the age of five, when my parents separated, I saw him only a handful of times, and when I did he was often remote and intimidating. I grew up longing for more contact with him but felt rejected and unimportant in his life. … … While Dad was fast becoming one of the wealthiest men in his field, Mum and I had very little and she was going out to work to support us.” > **[Julian Lennon writes about his father](http://pillsworld.blogspot.com/2008/05/julian-john-lennon.html)** > > Julian Lennon wrote the Foreword for his mother’s book, “ John ”. It's Cynthia Lennon's biographical account of her involvement with John Le... This isn’t directly relevant to Julian, but tells you something about Yoko, inheritance, and her relationship to John’s family. John bought a house for his half-sisters Julia and Jackie, and their guardians/adoptive parents (John’s aunt Harriet and her husband Norman Birch). After he died, Yoko took the house away: "he told Birch to buy a house, and he found a 4-bedroom house in Gateacre Park Drive, Liverpool. Lennon told Birch to furnish and decorate it, and to send all the bills to him. . . . After Lennon and Harriet died, Yoko Ono wanted to sell the house—as it was still in Lennon’s name—but later gave it to the Salvation Army on 2 November 1993, even though Lennon had once written: “I always thought of the house he’s in [Birch] as my contribution towards looking after Julia [Baird] and Jackie. I would prefer the girls to use it.” > **[Julia Baird](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_Baird)** > > Julia Baird (née Dykins; born 5 March 1947) is a British retired teacher and author. She is the younger half-sister of English musician John Lennon, and is the eldest daughter of his mother Julia Lennon and John 'Bobby' Albert Dykins. She also has an older half-sister, Ingrid Pedersen. Her younger sister is Jacqueline 'Jackie' Dykins (born 26 October 1949). > Lennon started visiting the Dykins' house in 1951. After the death of Julia Lennon in 1958, Harriet and Norman Birch were appointed guard... ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-julian-lennon-left-out-of-john-lennons-will/744308/8 "2016-01-26T23:26:32Z")
Two years ago, before the celebration of the 50th anniversary of their appearance on _The Ed Sullivan Show_, I read an interview with Julian Lennon asking why he wouldn’t be attending. He stated pretty much what’s been said. He was too young to remember any of the early ‘Beatlemania’ stuff, then his father abandoned him and his mother. I remember watching that anniversary show and noticing how Yoko and her group (including her son Sean Lennon) were on the complete opposite side of the audience from all the other Beatles’ families & friends. Even more ironic considering the song _Hey Jude_ was written about him (Jude being the diminutive of the name Julian…) ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-julian-lennon-left-out-of-john-lennons-will/744308/9 "2016-01-26T23:48:09Z")
And _Hey Jude_ was a fine tune! ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-julian-lennon-left-out-of-john-lennons-will/744308/10 "2016-01-27T01:45:15Z")
McCartney and Julian Lennon on their closeness and the writing of “Hey Jude” “Hey Jude” was written in June 1968,as McCartney drove his Aston Martin to Weybridge to visit Cynthia Lennon and her son. On the journey he began thinking about their changing lives, and of the past times he had spent writing with Lennon at the Weybridge house. “I thought, as a friend of the family, I would motor out to Weybridge and tell them that everything was all right: to try and cheer them up, basically, and see how they were. I had about an hour’s drive. I would always turn the radio off and try and make up songs, just in case… I started singing: ‘Hey Jules - don’t make it bad, take a sad song, and make it better…’ It was optimistic, a hopeful message for Julian: ‘Come on, man, your parents got divorced. I know you’re not happy, but you’ll be OK.’ I eventually changed ‘Jules’ to ‘Jude’. One of the characters in Oklahoma is called Jud, and I like the name.” Paul McCartney It wasn’t until 1987 that McCartney came to discuss Hey Jude with Julian Lennon, after a chance encounter in a New York hotel. “He told me that he’d been thinking about my circumstances all those years ago, about what I was going through. **Paul and I used to hang out a bit - more than dad and I did. We had a great friendship going and there seem to be far more pictures of me and Paul playing together at that age than there are pictures of me and dad.** ” Julian Lennon > **[Hey Jude](https://www.beatlesbible.com/songs/hey-jude/)** > > Written by: Lennon-McCartney Recorded: 29, 30, 31 July, 1 August 1968 Producer: George Martin Engineers: Ken Scott, Barry Sheffield Released: 30 August 1968 (UK), 26 August 1968 (US) Available on: Past Masters 1 Anthology 3 Love Personnel Paul... ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-julian-lennon-left-out-of-john-lennons-will/744308/11 "2016-01-27T20:23:25Z")
Wow Paul really was the nice one wasn’t he? ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-julian-lennon-left-out-of-john-lennons-will/744308/12 "2016-01-27T21:07:01Z")
> [@gkster](#): > > \*\* there seem to be far more pictures of me and Paul playing together at that age than there are pictures of me and dad.\*\*" That’s pretty fucked up. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-julian-lennon-left-out-of-john-lennons-will/744308/13 "2016-01-27T21:13:16Z")
I have always loved John. But, I have always thought his treatment of his first born was not right. I wish I could accept it, as I possibly don’t have all the information. But, from every thing I have read, John didn’t handle this well. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-julian-lennon-left-out-of-john-lennons-will/744308/14 "2016-01-27T23:12:23Z")
Yes, on the area of relations with children and SO’s John was problematic by his own admission, even with Yoko at times. Julian, of course, was the cause that he had to marry Cynthia just before he really hit it big (“Sorry, girls, he’s married” in the Ed Sullivan crawl). The other band members were _ **not** _ parents during the mad times so they did not have to face the pitfalls of having children while living that life. One can assume that after getting together with Yoko his defensiveness about her only made things worse by driving him to distance himself even further from his prior domestic life. John apparently did not see how it could create discomfort to make so much of Sean as the \*wanted \*child, the “darling beautiful boy” – maybe out of recognition of the past record and a desire to not make the same mistake again, but it only made the contrast more jarring, and then the younger boy lost his father at a young age _for real._ Though John seemed to be getting himself more leveheaded after his hiatus in the late 70s, nobody got the chance to see where that would lead. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2016, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-julian-lennon-left-out-of-john-lennons-will/744308/15 "2016-01-28T00:31:34Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#): > > I have always loved John. > > But, I have always thought his treatment of his first born was not right. I wish I could accept it, as I possibly don’t have all the information. But, from every thing I have read, John didn’t handle this well. I will never understand how Lennon could have let his dick do all the thinking for him in terms of his devotion to Yoko. It is incredibly appropriate that her name became a synonym for a gold-digging, talent-less, internal-strife-instigating, interloping broad. I still realize she (alone) did \*\*NOT \*\*break them up, but her actions ever since have just confirmed her selfish, narcissistic personality over and over again… ---
**Author:** ![Andiethewestie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba9def/32.png) [@Andiethewestie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andiethewestie)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2016, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-julian-lennon-left-out-of-john-lennons-will/744308/16 "2016-01-28T00:43:22Z")
> [@lisiate](#): > > Wow Paul really was the nice one wasn’t he? Without a doubt, Paul was more pragmatic about being a dad. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2016, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-julian-lennon-left-out-of-john-lennons-will/744308/17 "2016-01-28T02:00:02Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > I will never understand how Lennon could have let his dick do all the thinking for him in terms of his devotion to Yoko. It is incredibly appropriate that her name became a synonym for a gold-digging, talent-less, internal-strife-instigating, interloping broad. I still realize she (alone) did \*\*NOT \*\*break them up, but her actions ever since have just confirmed her selfish, narcissistic personality over and over again… I have forgiven Yoko. Why? Because I truly believe John loved her. And I respect his judgement. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2016, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-julian-lennon-left-out-of-john-lennons-will/744308/18 "2016-01-28T04:16:08Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > appropriate that her name became a synonym for a gold-digging, The other points are arguable, but this one doesn’t really hold up. Yoko Ono came from a very wealthy family indeed ( her [mother](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasuda_clan) in [particular](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasuda_zaibatsu) ) and was more or less a trust fund kid. She certainly did well out of the marriage, but at the time they met she wasn’t exactly living on ramen noodles. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2016, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-julian-lennon-left-out-of-john-lennons-will/744308/19 "2016-01-28T04:26:16Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > The other points are arguable, but this one doesn’t really hold up. Yoko Ono came from a very wealthy family indeed ( her [mother](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasuda_clan) in [particular](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasuda_zaibatsu) ) and was more or less a trust fund kid. She certainly did well out of the marriage, but at the time they met she wasn’t exactly living on ramen noodles. Actually, I suspected that ‘gold-digging’ was over the top, but most people don’t know your above facts, so that’s usually still one of the ways her name gets used as a pejorative. And it’s not totally off, if not actual gold-digging then just fame-whoring… ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2016, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-julian-lennon-left-out-of-john-lennons-will/744308/20 "2016-01-28T11:07:10Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > I will never understand how Lennon could have let his dick do all the thinking for him in terms of his devotion to Yoko. You shouldn’t assume it was his dick. It was likely his heart. That’s people who are in love with a bastard who stay in surprinsingly bad relationships. Not people driven by lust. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-julian-lennon-left-out-of-john-lennons-will/744308.md?page=2)