Wedding bells for Elton
2005-04-25 12:15
London - Flamboyant British pop star Elton John intends to marry his long-time partner David Furnish before the end of the year in a civil ceremony, he said in an newspaper interview published on Monday.
The 58-year-old singer-songwriter told the Daily Mirror that the event would most likely take place in Windsor, the town just west of London where Prince Charles wed his own long-standing consort, Camilla Parker Bowles, earlier this month.
"We definitely want to do it about the middle of December, probably in Windsor. But there will be no honeymoon. I'm on tour," John told the newspaper from Las Vegas, where he is currently performing.
Full gay marriages are not permitted in Britain. However, after December 5, homosexual couples will be able to have "civil partnerships" recognised under law, allowing them some of the same tax and inheritance benefits enjoyed under marriage.
Such partnerships have to be announced at least 15 days in advance, meaning John's wedding could not take place until December 21 at the earliest.
John and 42-year-old Furnish, a filmmaker and socialite, have been together for 11 years. Last month, the singer countered reports that their relationship was in trouble, releasing a statement insisting they had "never been happier".
Second time lucky?
John - officially Sir Elton John since he was knighted in 1998 - was effusive about the couple's happiness.
"Meeting David has been the greatest thing to happen to me. Yes, we spend a lot of time apart and it's hard, but we make it work," he told the Daily Mirror.
"We phone each other five or six times a day and we still send each other a card from wherever we are."
Born Reg Dwight in 1947, John was a childhood piano prodigy who became one of the biggest selling pop artists in the world in the 1970s and 1980s, amassing vast wealth.
In recent years he has become as famous for his extravagant spending, glamorous lifestyle and work with Aids charities, as for his music, although he still tours regularly.
The marriage to Furnish will be John's second.
The singer had wed German music engineer Renate Blauel in 1984 but they divorced four years later.
- AFP