John Lennon Turned Up in Disguise — With a False Beard and a Fedora

The Growth Time Machine with Daniel Curtis · Aug 24, 2026 · 1m

Tony Palmer recalls the day John Lennon turned up in Cambridge in disguise — complete with an enormous fedora, a false beard and what Palmer describes as one of the dirtiest raincoats he had ever seen.The disguise did not last long. The two of them ended up laughing, Lennon got rid of it, and Palmer somehow managed to bluff his way into King’s College Chapel and the Wren Library at Trinity College with him.Years later, after Palmer had joined the BBC and The Beatles had become global superstars, he finally called the number Lennon had given him — only to discover that John had been wondering…