Editing John Lennon (section)

===Cynthia Lennon===
[[File:John and Cynthia Lennon, 1964.jpg|thumb|John and [[Cynthia Lennon]] sitting in an airplane on a stopover in Los Angeles in 1964]]
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Lennon met [[Cynthia Powell]] (1939–2015) in 1957, when they were fellow students at the [[Liverpool College of Art]].{{sfn|Lennon|2005|pp=17–23}} Although Powell was intimidated by Lennon's attitude and appearance, she heard that he was obsessed with the French actress [[Brigitte Bardot]], so she dyed her hair blonde. Lennon asked her out, but when she said that she was engaged, he shouted, "I didn't ask you to fuckin' marry me, did I?"{{sfn|Lennon|2005|p=21}} She often accompanied him to Quarrymen gigs and travelled to Hamburg with McCartney's girlfriend to visit him.{{sfn|Lennon|2005|pp=89–95}}

Lennon was jealous by nature and eventually grew possessive, often terrifying Powell with his anger.{{sfn|Harry|2000b|pp=492–493}} In her 2005 memoir ''[[John (2005 book)|John]]'', Powell recalled that, when they were dating, Lennon once struck her after he observed her dancing with Stuart Sutcliffe.{{sfn|Lennon|2005|p=37}} She ended their relationship as a result, until three months later, when Lennon apologised and asked to reunite.{{sfn|Lennon|2005|p=38: "After three months, he phoned me and asked me to go back to him. It had taken him that long to pluck up the courage. He apologized for hitting me and said it would never happen again"}} She took him back and later noted that he was never again physically abusive towards her, although he could still be "verbally cutting and unkind".{{sfn|Lennon|2005|p=38: "He was deeply ashamed of what he had done: I think he had been shocked to discover he had it in him to hit me. So, although he was still verbally cutting and unkind, he was never again physically violent to me. As we grew closer, in the second phase of our romance, even his verbal putdowns and attacks diminished"}} Lennon later said that until he met Ono, he had never questioned his chauvinistic attitude towards women. He said that the Beatles song "[[Getting Better]]" told his (or his peers') own story. "I used to be cruel to my woman, and physically – any woman. I was a hitter. I couldn't express myself and I hit. I fought men and I hit women. That is why I am always on about peace".{{sfn|Sheff|2000|p=182}}

Recalling his July 1962 reaction when he learned that Cynthia was pregnant, Lennon said, "There's only one thing for it Cyn. We'll have to get married."{{sfn|Lennon|2005|p=91}} The couple wed on 23 August at the [[Mount Pleasant, Liverpool|Mount Pleasant]] [[Register Office]] in Liverpool, with Brian Epstein serving as best man. His marriage began just as [[Beatlemania in the United Kingdom|Beatlemania]] was taking off across the UK. He performed on the evening of his wedding day and would continue to do so almost daily from then on.{{sfn|Harry|2000b|pp=493–495}} Epstein feared that fans would be alienated by the idea of a married Beatle, and he asked the Lennons to keep their marriage secret. Julian was born on 8 April 1963; Lennon was on tour at the time and did not see his infant son until three days later.{{sfn|Lennon|2005|p=113}}

Cynthia attributed the start of the marriage breakdown to Lennon's use of [[LSD]], and she felt that he slowly lost interest in her as a result of his use of the drug.{{sfn|Harry|2000b|pp=496–497}} When the group travelled by train to [[Bangor, Gwynedd|Bangor]], Wales in 1967 for the [[Maharishi Yogi]]'s Transcendental Meditation seminar, a policeman did not recognise her and stopped her from boarding. She later recalled how the incident seemed to symbolise the end of their marriage.{{sfn|Warner Brothers|1988}} After spending a holiday in Greece,{{sfn|Lennon|2005|pp=211–213}} Cynthia arrived home at [[Kenwood, St. George's Hill|Kenwood]] to find Lennon sitting on the floor with Ono in terrycloth robes{{sfn|Lennon|2005|p=213}} and left the house to stay with friends, feeling shocked and humiliated.{{sfn|Lennon|2005|pp=214–215: "I was in shock, [...] It was clear that they had arranged for me to find them like that and the cruelty of John's betrayal was hard to absorb", "I felt utterly humiliated, and longed to disappear. [...] Their intimacy had been so powerful that I had felt like a stranger in my own home"}} A few weeks later, [[Magic Alex|Alexis Mardas]] informed Powell that Lennon was seeking a divorce and custody of Julian.{{sfn|Lennon|2005|p=221}} She received a letter stating that Lennon was doing so on the grounds of her adultery with Italian hotelier Roberto Bassanini, an accusation which Powell denied.{{sfn|Lennon|2005|p=222: "It was laughable. Roberto had been kind and a good friend, but I had never been unfaithful to John. It was his attempt to make himself feel better about what he was doing"}} After negotiations, Lennon capitulated and agreed to let her divorce him on the same grounds (adultery).{{sfn|Lennon|2005|p=229}} The case was settled out of court in November 1968, with Lennon giving her £100,000, a small annual payment, and custody of Julian.{{sfn|Lennon|2005|pp=305–306: "He had agreed that I should have custody of Julian", "He raised his offer to £100,000"}}