'Give Peace' lyrics could sell for $600K

LONDON, June 11 (UPI) -- John Lennon's handwritten lyrics to the song "Give Peace a Chance" reportedly could sell for up to $600,000 in London next month, Christie's auction house said.

The historic document was put on the auction block by Gail Renard, a British-Canadian woman who befriended the late British singer/songwriter and his wife Yoko Ono during their 1969 anti-war bed-in in Montreal, Canada, The Daily Telegraph reported.

Renard was 16 when she participated in the protest.

"Give Peace a Chance" was recorded in Lennon and Ono's hotel room with Renard playing the tambourine. Lennon gave her a songboard containing the song's lyrics, which Renard kept for nearly 40 years, the Telegraph said.

The lyrics are to be sold through Christie's July 10 to coincide with Beatles Day in Liverpool.

The auction house has estimated the songboard will go for between $400,000 and $600,000, the newspaper said.