"She was 28 years old and she was Mrs. Lennon, a down-to-earth woman who watched the world go crazy for her husband. Two years later she would become my wife. I'm nostalgic for the 60s. It was a free world, where anything could happen. Even becoming a friend of the Beatles and marrying Mrs. Lennon."
Roberto Bassanini
Ah, Roberto. Not just the favorite stepfather for Julian, but I think Cynthia's favorite ex-husband. It's been considered that Roberto was the rebound after her divorce from John; Cynthia acknowledged she should've waited before getting into a relationship - let alone a marriage! - to recover from a painful experience. However, this dashing Italian managed to sweep her off her feet. She did credit him for smiling and laughing again. Roberto remained in Cynthia's affectionate thoughts, I don't think she regretted marrying Roberto (she definitely regret the John Twist marriage). I believe she regretted more of the timing (1970). Maybe if they had waited a few more years, then perhaps the marriage would have lasted a lot longer?
Not much is known about Roberto's upbringing other than he had polio as a child. Roberto Bassanini was born sometime in 1942 in Emilia-Romagna, Italy to hotel owner Gino Bassanini (born July 10, 1922) and his wife. Roberto had a brother, Pino, and they attended elementary school. Gino owned several hotels all around Italy as well as business ties in England and the United States. Both boys followed in their father's footsteps of owning hotels and restaurants in Italy and England.
In the Summer of 1966, Cynthia, Julian, and her mother Lillian traveled to Pesaro, staying at one of Gino's hotels. Gino and his wife made sure Cynthia and her guests were well provided for and protected from Beatlemania. Cynthia met Roberto for the first time on this trip, but at the time, Cynthia was a happily married woman with her husband on tour with The Beatles.
"I met her about 2 years ago when she came to Italy on a holiday and we went out together to a nightclub or two. Nothing serious, but as friends."
Roberto Bassanini, 1968
I don't think Cynthia took much notice of Roberto until two years later when she returned back to Italy in June of 1968 with her mother, Julian, her Aunt Daisy, and Uncle Bill. By this time, instead of running away from the scrutiny of being John's wife, Cynthia was depressed over her failing marriage. At this point, John made his romantic relationship with Yoko Ono known to the world, humiliating Cynthia who thought her marriage still had a chance of survival. Roberto played host, showing everybody the sights, shops, and dine in restaurants. On one particular night, perhaps concerned for Cynthia's depression, Roberto took Cynthia out for a night in town to dine and dance. Cynthia did have fun! But that fun quickly sank when she saw Magic Alex waiting for her at the hotel... with another man at her side. Alex was there with a message from John: he wants a divorce, planned to take Julian away, and send Cynthia back to Hoylake. There was also no doubt that Alex was going to tell John that he caught Cynthia on the arm of another man... Juicy gossip! Cynthia figured that John must've hired a detective to follow her every move (to which John later denied). Whatever the reasons, one thing was clear: her marriage was doomed. Alex definitely told John about Roberto as he used him when accusing Cynthia for adultery in the first round of divorce papers (the second - and used - round was Cynthia's filing of divorce papers accusing John's adultery with Yoko. Unlike John's accusations about her alleged adultery, Cynthia had the proof on John's!).
"I would think it pretty obvious, since our every move almost immediately became public knowledge. But it is as I say, I could be in love with her. But as of now I'm not."
Roberto Bassanini, 1968
"Eventually I bought a new house in Kensington, settled Julian in a local school and tried to start afresh. And ironically who should phone me but the man with whom John accused me of having an affair, Roberto Bassanini. Roberto was now in London and was a family friend. He visited my mother on behalf of his parents and then he turned his attentions to me. He was warm and kind and funny and he was just what I needed right then. I suddenly realized that it was a long time since I'd had any simple fun. India, the drugs, the divorce... The whole period had been so intense and serious. So much worry and unhappiness. Now here was Roberto and he made me laugh. He took me out to dinner, he took me out to clubs. He was wonderful with Julian and as our relationship grew we holidayed together and took skiing trips. Suddenly I was doing all the things that had seemed impossible before because of the press. It was freedom, pure freedom and I loved it."
Cynthia, 1994
Anyway, I already wrote about the divorce, so let's pick up where Roberto (he is our topic right now) re-entered the picture. At some point in late 1968, Roberto came to London, probably for business, but let's take a gamble here and say it was really Cynthia Roberto came in town for. As he did in Italy before the fateful news, Roberto took care of Cynthia to see a smile on her depressing face. Roberto returned home to Italy a few days later. Cynthia and Julian (and her mother Lillian) settled in a new home in Kensington.
"A lot of fuss has been made over the fact that I've just been to England, returning only 2 days ago, when there was all this talk of a breakup of John and Cynthia's marriage. It was pure coincidence that I should be there at that time. I represent a travel agency and I went over on company business. I saw Cynthia once or twice, but always when her mother was there, or her mother and a friend. Cynthia and I went out with her mother to an Italian restaurant near Sutton in Surrey, which my father owned until last year. My total experiences with Mrs. Lennon over these couple of years or so consist in having danced and dined with her, gone swimming with her, and having found her to be a person of class, very nice, very sweet, very sympathetic. And, recently, very unhappy."
Roberto Bassanini, 1968
Cynthia and Roberto at Rome Airport to celebrate New Years, January of 1969
...But Roberto soon returned. On a side note: Roberto worked for a travel agency? I never heard that one before; unless related to his hotel/restaurant business. While Cynthia may have felt hesitation in jumping into a new romantic relationship so soon after her divorce, Roberto warmed her heart by bonding with Julian. Roberto and Julian adored each other and Roberto stepped up on the father role. He whisked Cynthia away on trips in Italy: to Sestriere in January of 1969 to celebrate the New Year, and then to Pescasseroli the following month of February. They took annual trips to Italy during their brief marriage, often taking Julian with them. According to Freda Kelly from The Beatles Monthly, Cynthia and Roberto hosted a housewarming party in February of 1969 with Paul McCartney, Linda Eastman, Ringo and Maureen Starr, George and Pattie Harrison attending. Obviously John and Yoko weren't there.
"My stepfather stepped in when my dad stepped out. The guy that took me to school. He was the guy that took me on holidays. The guy that picked me up when I fell down. He was the guy that taught me about life. So for me he was my father. You know, a lot of people don't like to hear that but on my behalf it's true."
Julian, 1998
"When he was a boy I acted as his father at the Wimbledon schools he was 'Lennon's son', but I was the one who went to get him".
Roberto Bassanini
"Childlike, happy Roberto was a wonderful friend but I really shouldn't have married him. He proposed one day in a taxi in front of my mother. He said: 'Lillian, I want to marry your daughter.' 'Don't be stupid, Roberto,' said Mum. But after a while I found myself thinking, why not? John and Yoko got married, and though, like Roberto and me, later split up, eventually got back together. We married one glorious summer day in 1970 and for a while, Roberto was just what I needed."
Cynthia, 1994
Julian, Roberto, and Cynthia after their wedding at Kensington Registry Office on July 31, 1970
Roberto Bassanini and Cynthia Powell Lennon got married on July 31, 1970 at Kensington Registry Office with her son Julian as a Page Boy. It was a happy day until Roberto's father Gino told Cynthia that since Roberto is now married to a "wealthy" woman, he would no longer support his son. Cynthia's heart sank. I guess Gino didn't read the newspaper articles about the divorce. Cynthia only got £100,000, an one time settlement with only child support coming in monthly (mainly education fees) ... too bad Cynthia didn't know Heather Mills at the time! I'm surprised that Cynthia didn't set Gino straight about her sucky divorce deal, or didn't had the heart to (or balls). Twiggy and her Photographer boyfriend Justin De Villeneuve attended the wedding; Cynthia wrote that Ringo and Maureen were there but I never saw anything that agrees.
"I must have been, because I knew when I did it that I was doing the wrong thing. I had so many hints. I kept saying to Roberto: 'I need peace. I need it so much.'He said: 'Let me take you for a holiday in Italy. You'll have peace. So we went. He immediately got in touch with all the reporters, and when we got there I found myself faced with the press. I needed a chance to get my feet on the ground, but Roberto kept going on and on about us getting married. Eventually I was so worn down I said: 'Yes, all right,' and we arranged our wedding in three days. The night of our marriage we spent in the London club Tramps. And we slept in a single bed for an hour. That was our wedding night."
Cynthia, 1976
In 1976, it was Tramps ... yet in 2005 it was Meridiana restaurant according to Cynthia's recollections of her wedding reception. Maybe the party moved from restaurant to nightclub? Well, anyway, Roberto and Cynthia went on their honeymoon at the Adriatic Coast in Italy. They took Julian with them as with Katie (Cynthia's brother Charlie's ex girlfriend) to look after him so the honeymooners can have their moments. Some time later, Roberto and Cynthia threw a housewarming party to celebrate their marriage. Although pissed off at John for dumping Cynthia for Yoko, Roberto wanted to meet John. I heard through the grapevine that John hated Roberto, mainly because he's now sleeping with his (ex) wife... I don't know if that's true or not but I can picture it. John did had that jealousy trait in him and the idea of another man sleeping with Cynthia would've boiled his blood. Cynthia took a gamble and invited John and Yoko over. To her surprise, they came! It was the first time in 2 years since John and Cynthia last saw each other. I think for John, he attended as he and Yoko were also being nice to Tony Cox for Kyoko's benefit. Ringo, Maureen, Twiggy, Justin, Lulu, Maurice Gibb, Roger and Luisa Moore were there. I've also heard that Paul, Linda, George, and Pattie were also there - it would've been the first reunion since their public breakup announcement in April of 1970... a few months before the party. Yes, the atmosphere was frosty, yet no drama took place. Well, the only drama was Cynthia's blood boiling when Yoko spoke to her about Julian on how they love having him despite the note Yoko had sent to Cynthia about Julian's bad behavior when the car accident happened in Scotland. John basically ignored Cynthia, hung out with Ringo and Roberto joined in - there was a lot of laughter. John only said two words to Cynthia: Hi and Bye.
The best way to describe Roberto was that he was a little boy in an adult's body. He wanted to have fun, he wanted to be loved, he wanted to play. I'm sure Cynthia was more like a mother than a wife. At first, Cynthia had a great time. But then she got tired of it. Once again, she was living two lives as she did while married to John: a mother by day, a partier by night. With a tight eye on the financial situation, money barely coming in thanks to Roberto giving his guests meals on the house, Cynthia tried to tame by moving further from the social life to Wimbledon. It didn't help when Roberto would invite people to their home for food and drink, staying until the early hours. Up went the grocery bill. John did a similar thing... except John did drugs while Roberto was very social and outgoing. That didn't do any good other than adding taxi fare to the budget. They frequently hung out with Maurice and Lulu.
"Dear Roberto was a child in many ways and he wanted to play all the time. We went out to lunch, we went out to dinner, we moved on to the clubs and we danced half the night. Roberto knew everyone it seemed. He was acquainted with far more celebrities than I and he was so gregarious he had friends all over the world. Whenever they passed through London Roberto insisted that they came to stay and soon the house was like a hotel. They ate every scrap of food in the kitchen, our phone bills to South America and God knows where were astronomical and I never knew who I was going to find at the door from one day to the next. Kensington is just too convenient for the London clubs, I thought, so in an attempt to slow things down I moved us to Wimbledon instead. It made no difference. Now we just had huge taxi bills added to the family budget."
Cynthia, 1994
"I was living two lives. I'd get up in the morning early, take Julian to school, and when he came home I'd give him his tea and help him with his homework. And then I'd try to snatch some sleep in the afternoon because Roberto liked to go night clubbing. But I'm not a nightclub person. All I wanted was to live quietly."
Cynthia, 1976
"And as much as I'd enjoyed the fun at first, I began to tire. After all, I had responsibilities. I had to get Julian up and run him to school. I had to hurry back after lunch to collect him, then help him with his homework. And you can't manage that on just two or three hours' sleep night after night. In the end I couldn't cope with it any more. After three years, I said to Roberto, 'I think we'd better split up.' He was very upset. He tried to persuade me to change my mind. he took me out and gave me a red rose. But it made no difference. I hated to hurt him but I could see that Roberto wouldn't change and his way of life could never be mine."
Cynthia, 1994
"In the end I asked him to leave. I don't know how I did it, but I knew I'd have to do it if I was going to stay sane and normal."
Cynthia, 1976
I'm sure the breakup wasn't fun for Cynthia. I do believe she loved him and would've stayed married if Roberto grew up to be a steady business man and settled down. It was even more heartbreaking for Julian as he adored Roberto. Roberto was his father, as Julian pointed out quite frequently. For Julian, there was a man in the house every day, who gave him attention and not be distracted. Despite a brief marriage, Roberto remained a dedicated father figure to Julian, often inviting him to Italy on vacations and Julian can speak fluent Italian. After divorcing in December of 1973, Roberto returned to Italy where he opened several hotels and restaurants and, ironically, made lots of money.
"I felt completely isolated in Wimbledon. I hadn't really made any friends. I knew the people we'd met in nightclubs but that's all."
Cynthia, 1976
During the divorce proceedings, Cynthia, Lillian, and Julian moved to Hoylake, Blackpool where Cynthia grew up with Liverpool nearby.
As far as I know, Roberto never remarried. Sadly, Roberto died on May 18, 1995 in Milan, Italy from a heart attack. He was buried. For some reason, Roberto left Julian a note claiming there was money meant for him; but after doing some investigation on where this money was came out nothing. I guess Roberto died unexpectedly before arranging something for Julian's inheritance. In 1998, Julian released an album Photograph Smile and dedicated it to Roberto.
"I now believe in living for the moment. I learned that from my step-father Roberto. He loved life to the extreme - every second of every day counted for him, but it is only the last couple of years that I have tried to follow that path myself."
Julian
"It's wonderful. Life begins at whatever age is good for you, and 60 certainly seems as if it's going to be good for me. Eight months ago I found myself finally on my own, which may have been horrendous at the time, but has done me the greatest favour. To be alone but not lonely, to be unburdened by responsibilities, to have my own space - truly, it's the first time in my life I've felt such freedom. It's brilliant. I've never experienced it before because at 23, I had a baby - Julian - to look after, and I then cared for my mother when she had Alzheimer's disease. After that one marriage followed another - Roberto Bassanini being the best of the three, because the others were influenced too much by the Lennon legacy. So I never knew how good independence could be."
Cynthia 1999
Julian and Pino Bassanini on March 30, 2018 in Milan. Two days later, Pino passed away unexpectedly.
From Julian's Instagram
On March 30, 2018, Julian traveled to Milan, Italy where he reconnected with Roberto's family after 20+ years since he last saw Gino and Pino after Roberto's death. After Julian departed, sadly two days later, Pino died unexpectedly on April 1, 2018. Julian found out the news the following day. Strange twist of fate is that Pino died on the same day as Cynthia (in 2015)! Like his father and brother, Pino owned several hotels and restaurants in Italy and England over the years. He was married to Rosella and they had two children, Giulio and Linda. As of 2018, Gino is still alive and would be turning 101 this year (I don't know if he's still alive or not, I can't find anything).
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