"I felt I couldn't contact John when my adoptive mother was still alive. I felt an incredible loyalty to her because I believe she knew I was dad's real daughter and she took me in as her own daughter with no obvious resentment about his affair with Julia.''

"I knew Mum kept a tin box in her wardrobe that contained family papers. When no one was around I opened it, trembling. I found a yellowing, dog-eared adoption paper that had been issued by Liverpool County Court. Then I saw my full name: Lillian Ingrid Maria Pederson, and my birth date. Above that were the three words I had been looking for: Victoria Elizabeth Lennon - the name I was born with. My real mother's name, Julia Lennon, was also there. I burst into tears." She said she never knew John had been looking for her.

After her mother died and her story came out, she received a call from Yoko Ono, who brought her to New York and gave her a tour of the Dakota and Strawberry Fields.

"For me, the biggest part has been put to rest - and that is getting as close to John as I possibly can in the circumstances - and for this I have Yoko to thank. I have also visited my real mother' s grave in Liverpool. It was emotional, but I managed to make peace with her.