No Invite for Beatle John (1966)

John's father, Alf, is such an interesting character.   We know that Alf married a young woman named Pauline, and they had a child named David.  However, it appears that Alf was engaged to be married to this woman, Trudie Harris.  Photos online incorrectly label these photos as being of Alf and Julia (which is way off!) or Alf and Pauline.   However, they seem to go along with this story from 1966.  From just reading the article, it appears that Trudie was trying to get to the Beatles through Alf Lennon to help her son's recording career, but I could be reading too much into tings.  

No Invite for Beatle John

No Writer Listed

Daily Record

June 9, 1966

    The £8-a-week barman, father of millionaire Beatle John Lennon, announced last night that he is to remarry and that John will not be invited to the wedding.

     As he hugged his future bride and talked of his plans, Frederick Lennon, 52, said, "We've only met once since he became famous and started making millions. I shan't invite him to the wedding, but he is welcome to come if he wants."

     His wife-to-be is the mother of six, Miss Trudie Harris, 41, a part-time barmaid at the Toby Jug Hotel, Tolworth, Surrey, where Mr. Lennon lives and works. 

    They met behind the bar when Mr. Lennon began working there three weeks ago after his effort to follow his son, John, into showbiz as a recording star fell flat. "I made a recording, but it all went for a burton," he said. "I was never billed as the father of John. That's an image I wanted to get away from, and I think I could have made it on my own."

     Mr. Lennon, dressed in a black leather waistcoat and a Beatle-style jacket, said of the wedding, " We haven't fixed a date yet. It all depends on money. We haven't got much between us."

     Mr. Lennon's first wife died in a road accident two years ago [sic]. Mrs. Harris is divorced.

     Attractive, dark-haired Trudie of York Way, Chessington said, "Fred is a wonderful man, and I really hope John will come to our wedding."

     Two of her six children are married and are all Beatles fans. Her eldest son, Shaun, is a pop group singer under contract to a record company. "All of them, right down to my youngest daughter, who is four, are thrilled to bits with the prospect of becoming stepsisters and brothers to John," she said. "They are all dying to meet him."