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Sir Elton says 'I do'
21/12/2005 14:18 - (SA)
Windsor - Britain's most famous gay couple - Sir Elton John and Canadian filmmaker David Furnish - tied the knot on Wednesday in a star-studded event that capped the first week of civil partnership ceremonies in the United Kingdom.
Cameras flickered as hordes of photographers and fans huddled together in the cobbled streets around Windsor's town hall, the Guildhall, where Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles wed in April.
John, 58, and Furnish, 43, walked out smiling, waving and raising their thumbs after the ceremony as an attendant threw rice at the couple.
The couple are among hundreds of same-sex couples to wed in civil partnerships in England and Wales on Wednesday, the first day that such ceremonies become possible.
Ceremonies were held earlier this week in Northern Ireland and Scotland.
Three couples signed their documents moments after the register office opened at 08:00 GMT in Brighton, the south coast city known as Britain's gay capital.
'It's a long time coming...'
Suzi Uprichard, 33, of Maidenhead, among the crowd in Windsor, was excited to be at what she described as a historic day for same-sex couples.
"It's a long time coming really," Uprichard said. "Admittedly, it's Elton and David's day, but it's the first day that gay couples can engage in civil ceremonies in ... England. So I think it's something to celebrate."
Police erected security barriers outside the building. Relaxed officers, some on horseback, chatted with photographers, who stood four and five deep on the streets outside the Guildhall.
Fans got into the spirit of the event with posters featuring the couple and Queen Elizabeth II, who has a castle in Windsor. A nearby shop wished the couple well with handpainted sign saying "go for it".
Furnish, a Canadian-born filmmaker, and John have been together for 12 years.
Their reception is expected to be a star-studded extravaganza costing an estimated one million pounds.
Two giant white tents have been erected on the grounds of the pop star's Windsor mansion for the bash, which British tabloids claim will be heated adequately to warm the hundreds of guests in skimpy evening gowns.
Guests at the couple's bachelor night on Monday - a prelude to the bigger reception on Wednesday - included heavy metal rocker turned reality TV star Ozzy Osbourne and his wife Sharon, model and actress Liz Hurley and musicians Bryan Adams, Gary Barlow and Kid Rock.
- AP
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South Africa
