April confetti showers
Spring weddings have blossomed over the years. MARION MCMULLEN looks back at starry April nuptials as William and Kate prepare to celebrate their 10th anniversary
ROYAL kiss on the balcony of Buckingham Palace was watched by two billion people around the world 10 years ago.
Prince William tied the knot with his long-term girlfriend Kate Middleton on April 29, 2011 and she promptly made history by becoming the first commoner to marry a future king in 300 years.
The couple got engaged while on holiday in Kenya and Prince William revealed that he proposed using the engagement ring of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, to make sure she “didn’t miss out on the excitement”.
The wedding at Westminster Abbey was attended by 1,900 guests including foreign Royal family members and heads of state as well as celebrities like Rowan Atkinson, Sir Elton John, Guy Ritchie and singer Joss Stone. Thousands of well-wishers from around the world also flocked to London to witness the spectacle and pageantry of the event.
Another royal wedding also caught the attention of the world 65 years ago when Hollywood star Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier of Monaco, April 19, 1956. Her wedding gown was created by MGM movie fashion designer Helen Rose and featured 125-year-old rose point lace, 25 yards of silk taffeta and 100 yards of silk. The veil was sewn with thousand of tiny pearls.
The wedding ceremony at Saint Nicholas Cathedral was filmed by MGM and the 600 guests included fellow film stars David Niven, Gloria Swanson and Ava Gardner.
Future James Bond star Sir Roger Moore married his third wife Luisa Mattioli on April 11, 1969, and they held their wedding reception at the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington. Luisa was an Italian citizen and Roger also spoke perfect Italian.
He once joked: “Women have played a big part in my life on and off-screen and I think I’ve finally worked them out. I always make sure I had the last word. That word is ‘yes’.”
ELO’S Jeff Lynne married his first wife Rosemary Adams at the Holy Trinity Church in Malvern on April 11, 1972. He was the singer and songwriter with Birmingham group The Move at the time and his 19-year-old bride was a trainee teacher. Both of them were big Birmingham City fans and Rosemary came out of the church waving a rattle with the word Blues on it.
Some of the Birmingham City squad took time off from training to attend the wedding. The couple even postponed their honeymoon so they could watch their team play Leeds United in the FA Cup semi final. Sadly the Blues lost 3-0.
It was no laughing matter when Freddie Starr married his second wife, former dancer Sandy Morgan, at a register office in Coventry on April 27, 1974 and two traffic wara
dens turned up. They had already booked him six times within the space of a week, but said they were only there on the couple’s big day to wish them well.
Racing legend Sir Stirling Moss wed his third wife Susie Paine on April 17, 1980. He had known her since she was five years old, as her father was an old friend, and they were together for 40 years until his death last year.
Sir Stirling said: “When we got married she was 27 and I was 50. I know some people might think that is quite a big age gap, but, frankly, we have never noticed it.”
English actress Susan Hampshire wore a dress designed by David and Elizabeth Emanuel, who designed Princess Diana’s dress that same year, for her wedding to theatre impresario Eddie Kulukundis at Kensington Register Office in London, on April 4, 1981.
He sadly passed away in February this year at the age of 88. Susan gave up almost all acting opportunities to care for Sir Eddie in 2009 and they moved out of their London home in 2017 to live somewhere more wheelchair-friendly.
American actress Barbara Bach also wore a wedding dress designed by David and Elizabeth Emanuel when she married former Beatle Ringo Starr on April 27, 1981, in London. It was a second marriage for both of them and followed a near fatal car crash a year earlier which they luckily survived with few injuries. Ringo decided then he
never wanted to be separated from Barbara again.
There was a touch of magic when magician Paul Daniels and Debbie Mcgee married in Buckinghamshire on April 2, 1988. Former ballet dancer Debbie was married to Paul for 28 years and was his stage assistant for a decade before that.
She was 29 and he was 50 when they tied the knot and she revealed on her podcast Spill the Tea With Debbie Mcgee that they initially got off to an awkward start as Paul, who died in 2016, wanted to keep his distance as he thought the 21 year age gap between them was too large.
She posted a shot of their wedding day on what would have been their 30th anniversary in 2018 simply saying, “Still miss him every day”.