JOHN LENNON - LENNON'S MBE UNCOVERED IN ROYAL VAULT AFTER 40 YEARS

LENNON'S MBE UNCOVERED IN ROYAL VAULT AFTER 40 YEARS

A medal awarded to JOHN LENNON by British monarch QUEEN ELIZABETH II has been uncovered in a royal vault - 40 years after the late BEATLE refused the honour as part of an anti-war protest.
The legendary musician was made a Member of the British Empire (MBE) in the Queen's 1965 Birthday honours list, alongside his fellow bandmates Paul MCCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.
Lennon returned the MBE to Buckingham Palace four years later in protest to America's war in Vietnam.
Now, palace officials have re-discovered the insignia stored away at St James's Palace in London, along with a protest letter sent by Lennon to the Queen.
The letter reads, "Your Majesty, I am returning my MBE as a protest against Britain's involvement in the Nigeria-Biafra thing, against our support of America in Vietnam and against 'Cold Turkey' slipping down the charts. With Love, John Lennon."
Cold Turkey is a track Lennon released with the Plastic Ono Band.
And now palace officials have called on Lennon's widow Yoko Ono to decide the MBE's fate.
A spokesperson for the palace says, "John Lennon's MBE is being taken good care of and is in storage at the Central Chancery. It has been retained since the day Mr Lennon returned it, but in order to decide whether the medal could go on display in a museum, we would have to establish ownership first. It could be up to Yoko Ono as she is the custodian of John Lennon's estate."