"She was friendly but cool. Regal, almost."
"I think that I was probably the successor to Aunt Mimi in John's life."
A postcard (front and back) sent by Aunt Mimi Stanley Smith from her holiday in Florence in 1966 to John and Cynthia at their Kenwood home in Weybridge, Surrey.
Source: The Beatles Memorabilia: The Julian Lennon Collection 2010
I don't know how often Mimi visited John while he was living in Weybridge. I know she definitely did. She was certainly there in the Summer of 1965 when John brought her a new house in Bournemouth (there's a post already done). Once the money started to roll in, John gave weekly allowances to his mother-in-law Lillian Powell and his Aunt Mimi; somehow Mimi found out and was furious as she didn't feel that Lillian should get such a thing but John just shrugged it off. It was his money, after all. Then came 1968 and John's domestic life changed.
John introduced Yoko to his Aunt Mimi around June of 1968 when it was clear that he and Cynthia were over. He brought along Yoko to the home he bought his Aunt in Bournemouth.
"He had rung to say he was bringing someone down. He came in all bright and breezy -typical John- and she followed behind. I took one look at Yoko and though, 'My God, what is that?' Well, I didn't like the look of her right from the start. She had long black hair, all over the place, and she was small- she looked just like a dwarf to me. I told John what I felt while she was outside, looking across the bay. I said to him, 'Who's the poisoned dwarf, John?'"
"I thought she was beautiful, so tall and slim, with beautiful skin and bone structure. When John went to the bathroom and left us alone together, Mimi told me how she's brought him up to be very good mannered, and always stand up when a woman came into the room."
During the visit, Mimi talked about the Duke of Windsor being at one time popular but lost it all when he left the royalty behind when he married Wallis Simpson, comparing John and Yoko to them.
"John just laughed. He laughed it off, but he knew I didn't like her and he knew I was a good judge of character. I couldn't see what he saw in her and I thought it was wrong and nothing good would come to it."
After Cynthia's divorce from John, she and Julian didn't see Mimi until 1972 at Harrie's funeral. At one point, Mimi approached Cynthia to scold her about the divorce: Cynthia should've fought harder for John and their marriage from Yoko. Mimi felt that John and Yoko were making fools of themselves but Cynthia was powerless- what John wanted to do, he does it. Cynthia promised Mimi that she and Julian will visit her… I don't know if that happened or not. I believe that they definitely saw each other again at Mater's funeral in 1976.
Yoko and Sean outside of Mendips in Liverpool where John grew up in January of 1984
When Sean was born, the first call John made was to Mimi. During her last conversations with John, he promised his Aunt that he'll see her when he planned to visit England as well as the rest of the family to meet his son Sean. He hadn't really seen Mimi since he left England for good in 1971. They last spoke on December 6, 1980. Unfortunately, John was murdered. Mimi originally heard from Neil Aspinwall who called her but he was crying too much to barely speak. I did hear that Yoko called Mimi to confirm the news, including to Julian and Paul McCartney.
Mimi didn't meet Sean until 1984, the only time. Sean had been begging both parents to go to England- John was gamed. Yoko finally took him to England to show him John's home country. Mimi adored Sean.
As for Julian, it's hard to really say but there was a time in the 1980s that Julian briefly lived with Mimi in Bournemouth (it must've been after 1983 when Mimi said that Julian doesn't keep in touch) I don't recall where I read that nor do I know if it's true or not. After Mimi discovered that John never transferred her name as the owner of her home and realized that Yoko was now her "landlord", Mimi was not happy about that but also feared that Yoko would send someone over to check on her so she swapped the photos of Julian to Sean's. Despite that, I do believe that Mimi was more closer to Julian than to Sean in a sense... But, I also believe that Mimi and Julian weren't close at the same time… do you get what I am trying to say? I suppose what I am saying is that there was more accessible contact between Mimi and Julian than she had with Sean. Mimi was there when Julian was born, she literally watched him grow up while Sean was born and grew up without her there on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. As she did with John on his budding music career, Mimi did the same thing with Julian's music career in a disapproving way. If alive today, no doubt that Mimi would be the same with Sean's musical career.
"It's difficult- I don't remember too much about Mimi. I remember her house, the outside of it. She used to have on the driveway there was a tarmac with white pits in it, I recall that and it was by the sea, I think. I remember Dad used to have, like, a stretch Mercedes, white one, which we used to go to visit her in. But apart from that, I couldn't tell you much more. He used to talk about her a lot, not to me in general but he used to talk about her. If I was in the room, I'll be listening. No [contact], because I don't know, I didn't really, I don't know, but I guess I didn't really feel a part of that. I was just dragging along going to be seeing this relation to Dad so to speak. I don't remember there being a closeness. I mean, there might have been there but I don't recall."
"I have to admit Yoko was a good wife and mother and, thank goodness, I told John so long before. Sean is a darling, he's the living image of John. He has his mannerisms and his sense of adventure. We are very good friends. He tells me what he's been up to and I tell him all about his dad. He's very interested and can't discover enough. When he's twenty-five he'll be a very rich man, but for now he needs a good education. Yoko is a sensible girl and is seeing to that."
"I think Julian ought to get a real job. I've heard him sing and it's not my cup of tea. Julian doesn't keep in touch, not that it worries me too much."
"Sean is like John in every way- looks and manner- and he has got John's sense of humour. His speech, his self-confidence- and he's quite the entertainer! As long as he keeps away from music, he will be alright"
“Sean got on so well with Mimi, it was great. It was beautiful to meet her again. I had a lovely day - it was really beautiful. I’m glad that I came back here, and I’m glad I showed Liverpool to Sean. We came to Liverpool for Sean - it’s his heritage. We’ve had a wonderful day.“
By 1991, Mimi was very ill with heart problems and had a nurse with her. Her niece Julia notified Cynthia that Mimi's time was winding down so Cynthia reached out to Mimi for peace and closure. From what I understand, it went cordially well.
"I do not recall Mimi mentioning Sean except in passing. As I said before, she was not fond of Yoko. She did not like being beholden to her for her. Yoko owned her house and paid for all Mimi's needs. Mimi was a very strong person and liked to be in charge. Actually, she always referred to her as that 'Yoko Poko' person. However, Mimi's bark was always worse than her bite and I have a feeling that she may not have truly had as much animosity as she pretended."
Lynn Varcoe, Mimi's nurse, 2011
"I do not remember Cynthia or Julian getting in touch with Mimi during this period. Mimi always spoke well of Cynthia."
Mary Elizabeth Stanley Smith died on December 6, 1991. Ironically, the 11th anniversary of her last phone conversation with John; two days before his death anniversary. Her last words were "Hello John".
Mimi's funeral was held at Poole Crematorium on December 12, 1991. Cynthia attended, accompanied by Julia. Yoko and Sean also attended. As did Julia and John's sister Jacqui. Julian didn't go, he was elsewhere. Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison sent floral wreaths. Mimi was cremated.
Cynthia attending Mimi's funeral on December 12, 1991
"I went with Cynthia to Mimi’s funeral. When I realized that Mimi was terminally ill, I had tracked Cynthia down to where she was then living, on the Isle of Man. I thought she had a right to know and I gave her Mimi’s phone number, and Cynthia did speak to Mimi, shortly before she died. We took the train to London and stayed in Julian’s flat overnight, leaving early the next morning for the journey to Poole. Most of the family were already in the house by the time we got there, but the door was opened by complete strangers, who told us where to put our coats and where the bathroom was. I was astounded. Who were these people?"
"Yoko and Sean were at the funeral and so was Cynthia. I remember Cynthia being very upset and crying throughout… After the funeral, we all went to lunch at the Harbour Lights Hotel in Sandbanks. Yoko was very gracious and thanked all the people that helped care for Mimi. She thanked me for being there when Mimi died. Sean was also very polite and attentive to his mother."
Yoko and Sean at Mimi's funeral on December 12, 1991
According to Cynthia's book, John, Sean had a lovely time at the funeral… not exactly a thing to say for a funeral, but in that defense, Sean was meeting a lot of relatives he'd never met- probably the only time for some. Yoko tried to mingle but eventually gave up and smoked her long cigarettes, only one maybe two puffs before smashing it out before starting up a new cigarette. Yoko did turn to Cynthia for parenting advice on raising a teenage boy (Sean was 16 at the time).
It was during the funeral that Cynthia used the opportunity on behalf of Julia and Jacqui to confront Yoko about a house issue… but that will be saved for a post on its own.
