Published : Oct. 10, 2011 - 01:59
LONDON (AP) -- Former Beatle Paul McCartney and American heiress Nancy Shevell were married on Sunday, emerging joyously from a 45-minute civil ceremony to be showered with confetti from fans.
The pop icon raised his bride's arm in triumph as they blew kisses to the hundreds of fans and paparazzi waiting on the steps of the Old Marylebone Town Hall for the big event.
Former Beatle Paul McCartney and American heiress Nancy Shevell arrive at Marylebone Town Hall in central London to be married Sunday. Shevell, 51, is McCartney`s third wife. They were engaged earlier this year. The couple met in the Hamptons in Long Island, New York, shortly after the singer`s divorce from Heather Mills in 2008. (AP-Yonhap News)
Shevell, with a white flower in her long dark hair, wore an elegant, understated above-the-knee gown designed by McCartney's daughter, Stella. He wore a blue suit, a pale blue tie, and a gigantic grin.
The former mop-top wore his tinted hair longish for the occasion, bringing back memories of the days when girls swooned as he sang ``All My Loving'' and other boy-meets-girl hits.
The loving couple, beaming and relaxed, drove off in a burgundy Lexus for a gala reception at their nearby home in the St. John's Wood neighborhood. Champagne and cake awaited, along with guests like Ringo Starr, in a casual black T-shirt under his fitted suit, and his wife, the actress Barbara Bach.
There was a bit of deja vu for McCartney _ he married his first wife, Linda Eastman, at the same place in 1969, breaking the hearts of teenage girls throughout much of the world.
Details of the ceremony have not been released. Press reports suggest McCartney's younger brother Mike served as best man and his young daughter Beatrice as flower girl.
A tent had been set up at McCartney's house, and party decorations were delivered for a reception after the ceremony.
McCartney's traditional good luck seemed to hold _ gloomy skies brightened as the events unfolded. Rain early in the day had stopped.
Shevell, 51, is McCartney's third wife. They were engaged earlier this year. The couple met in the Hamptons in Long Island, New York, shortly after the singer's divorce from Heather Mills in 2008.
It is Shevell's second marriage. She seemed relaxed and radiant as she arrived for the ceremony, waving easily to the crowd.
Shevell, who is independently wealthy, was married for more than 20 years to attorney Bruce Blakeman and serves on the board of New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority. She also is a vice president of a lucrative New Jersey-based trucking company owned by her father.
McCartney married Eastman, a talented photographer who specialized in rock and roll portraits, at the height of the hippie era, when the Beatles were at the apex of their global fame.
The marriage of the Beatle known as ``the cute one'' caused young women and girls to burst into tears outside the registry office, and broke the hearts of uncounted fans throughout the world.
While many rock and roll marriages from that era broke down, the McCartneys enjoyed a long, happy marriage for many years, raising four children and spending virtually every night together except when McCartney was briefly jailed in Japan on marijuana charges.
Linda played and sang in his successful post-Beatles band Wings _ even though critics thought she added little to the ensemble _ and used her marriage to a Beatle to promote vegetarianism and other causes that were also backed by McCartney.
Her life was cut short by breast cancer in 1998, leaving McCartney adrift.
Mills then entered the picture. They married in 2002 at a gala affair at an Irish castle, and soon after had a daughter. But the marriage collapsed fairly quickly and ended with a bitter divorce in 2008.
Mills publicly accused McCartney of cruelty and sought a massive $250 million divorce settlement, but the judge sided with McCartney, calling her claims exorbitant.
The British public, enamored of the sunny Sir Paul since his early Beatle days, also sided with the singer.
The case offered a rare glimpse into the magnitude of McCartney's fortune, which includes songwriting royalties from a raft of classic tunes, many co-written with the late John Lennon, who would have turned 71 on Sunday.
Court papers filed by McCartney at the time indicated he had a net worth of approximately $800 million, including a valuable collection of art works including paintings by Picasso and Renoir along with luxury real estate holdings and sound music investments going well beyond his own works.
The impending marriage of one of the most enduring figures in British cultural life sparked Britain's fevered tabloid headline writers to try to come up with new puns on Sunday based on the Beatles' memorable song titles.
The best was probably ``Ticket to Bride'', a play on the 1965 chart topper ``Ticket to Ride.''
‘비틀스’ 매카트니 세 번째 결혼식 올려
비틀스 멤버이던 폴 매카트니(69)가 9일(현지시간) 영국 런던에서 4년 가까이 교제해온 연인 낸시 쉬벨(51)과 결혼식을 올렸다.
AP, AFP 등 외신에 따르면 결혼식은 런던 중부 ‘올드 매럴러번 타운홀’에서 카트니 슬하의 다섯 자녀를 포함, 약 30명만 참석한 가운데 열렸다.
미국인 신부 쉬벨은 매카트니의 딸 스텔라가 직접 디자인한, 무릎위 길이의 우아한 상아색 웨딩드레스를 입었다. 신랑 매카트니는 검은 정장과 넥타이 차림으로 만면에 웃음을 머금은 채 식장에 입장했다.
또 매카트니의 형제인 마이크 맥기어가 신랑 들러리를 섰고, 이혼한 둘째 부인 헤더 밀스와 사이에서 난 7살짜리 딸 베아트리체가 화동을 맡았다.
비틀스 멤버 가운데 매카트니와 함께 아직 생존한 드러머 링고 스타도 혼례 직 전에 도착했다.
식장 주변에서는 수백 명의 매카트니 팬들이 몰려들어 그의 이름을 환호하면서 결혼식을 축하했다.
영국 일간 인디펜던트는 결혼식장의 경우 매카트니가 1969년 사별한 첫째 부인 린다 이스트만과 결혼한 곳이며, 결혼식 날짜도 비틀스의 전설을 함께 만든 고(故)존 레논의 생일이어서 특별한 의미가 느껴진다고 소개했다.
신랑 신부와 하객은 결혼식을 마친 뒤 런던 북서부 세인트 존 우드의 매카트니 자택 뒤뜰에서 펼쳐지는 피로연에 참석하려고 이동했다.
매카트니는 가업으로 물려받은 운송회사를 운영하는 뉴욕의 기업가인 쉬벨과 20 07년 11월부터 교제하다 올 봄 약혼했다.
그는 첫 부인 린다 이스트만을 1998년 유방암으로 잃었으며, 2007년 3월에는 거 액의 위자료를 주고 둘째 부인 밀스와 이혼했다.