Article Summary

This article, published in the Sunday Mirror on 30 January 2000, reported on Victor Zavaroni’s public response to claims made by Ray Dexter. Dexter had stated that he and Lena were engaged at the time of her death. Victor disputed this, pointing to Lena’s will—specifically a £500 bequest to Dexter—as proof that he was “never more than a friend.” The article framed Victor as a devoted father defending his daughter’s legacy.

Source Note

Originally published in the Sunday Mirror (London, England) on 30 January 2000. Written by Gerard Couzens. The article is archived on The Free Library.

Commentary

While we can never know the truth about Lena and Ray's relationship, the idea that her "Will" proves anything is misleading. I have now seen photos of Lena and Ray together, and they do appear very close—but whether that closeness was romantic or platonic is open to interpretation. Only two people truly knew the nature of that relationship: Lena and Ray, and with Lena’s passing, we can’t confirm anything.

As for the claim that Victor was a devoted father, that too is open to question. He was clearly involved in Lena’s life and career, yet remained largely out of public view. Then, months after her death, he stepped forward not to share memories or grief, but to discredit someone else’s account. If grief and privacy were the reason for his earlier silence, why speak out at all?

Maybe my discomfort is personal. Maybe it’s because I see someone who had power but stayed in the shadows. And maybe that’s why I find his use of Lena’s will to dismiss Ray Dexter so troubling. The will left Dexter £500 — more than Lena left to Bonnie Langford or Elly Dalziel, two of her closest friends. That doesn’t prove anything. But it does make Victor’s claim feel selective, even self-serving.

Back to the "Will": if, as Victor claims, it proves Lena and Ray were never going to marry, then by that logic it must also prove Lena did not value her friendships with Bonnie or Elly—which is clearly untrue. I’m sure she valued them both.

THE "WILL" PROVES NOTHING!

Robcamstone

Related Article

Ray Dexter’s original claims about his relationship with Lena were first reported in the Daily Record article from 4 October 1999.