The real-life inspiration behind the classic Beatles song Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds died last week, aged 46.

Surbiton resident Lucy Vodden, nee O’Donnell, spent most of her 40s battling lupus, a disease which attacks the immune system, on top of psoriasis and arthritis.

Speaking to the Surrey Comet in 2007, she described how she came to inspire the song for one of the biggest-selling acts of all time.

She said: “I am safe in the knowledge it was about me.”

The story behind the song has always been well-known among Fab Four fanatics.

It is believed John Lennon’s four-year-old son Julian presented his father with a painting at the schools gates.

When asked what the painting showed, he said: “It’s Lucy, in the sky, with diamonds.”

Mrs Vodden was a playmate of Julian’s at a Weybridge nursery in 1966 and the pair used to play together at Lennon’s nearby mansion.

She told us: “I remember running around Julian’s garden in St George’s Hill.

“He had a swimming pool with beautiful tiles. I was always a bit scared of John as he was a big man with a loud voice.”

At her wedding to Ross Vodden, her “childhood sweetheart,” a message of goodwill was faxed to her from Julian and Lennon.

The former classmates resumed their friendship in recent months, when her illness began to take hold.

Despite her sickness, and inability to have children, Lucy always remained positive about her illness and praised the care she received in the lupus unit at St Thomas Hospital.

Angie Davidson, campaign director of the St Thomas Lupus Trust, described her as a “real fighter” and said: “It’s so sad that she has finally lost the battle she fought so bravely for so long.”

The trust said that Lennon and his mother Cynthia were “shocked and saddened” by Mrs Vodden’s death.

Visit lupus.org.uk to sign a book of condolence.

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