Entertainment News
2005-11-29
Elton John and
David Furnish to marry on December 21
British pop star
Elton John plans to marry his longtime partner, David
Furnish, on December 21, the first day civil pa
British pop star
Elton John plans to marry his longtime partner, David
Furnish, on December 21, the first day civil partnerships
between gay couples will be possible in England. In an
interview in Attitude magazine, John said the
ceremony would be a small, private affair involving
only himself and Furnish, with their parents acting as
witnesses.
"Out of respect
for their [our parents'] support, we want to just keep
it small—not to make a ballyhoo of the ceremony," he
told the gay lifestyle magazine. "There will be a
party somewhere, but the day will be very low-key and
we'll take our parents to lunch afterwards."
The Civil
Partnership Act will allow British same-sex couples to
effectively marry when it comes into force on December 5.
Couples who want to wed under the act must post a
notification at a registry office and wait the
required 15 days, so the first such ceremonies in England
will take place on December 21.
Attitude magazine said in a statement on
Thursday that John and Furnish, who have been together for
around 12 years, intended to marry on December 21.
John's publicist, Gary Farrow, confirmed
that December 21 was the "probable" date for the
ceremony. John added: "I haven't thought so much about the
emotional side of it yet, but I'm sure this is going
to be an incredibly emotional day."
The 58-year-old
singer, one of the most successful solo artists in pop
history with classics including "Your Song" and "Candle in
the Wind," previously married Renate Blauel in 1984, but
they divorced four years later. Canadian-born Furnish,
43, welcomed the legislation. "It is one of the
defining issues of our times. And I applaud Britain
for embracing the diversity of our society," he said.
John's publicist
said earlier this year that one of the main reasons John
and Furnish wanted to formalize their relationship was
financial, with civil partnerships giving partners tax
breaks currently available only to married couples.
(Reuters)
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