Ringo Loves Her - Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!
June 1981
Photo 1: Bridesmaids Lee and Francesca are daughters from former marriages
Photo 2: The occasion brings out the best in a jean-clad George, 38
Photo 3: Guests go wild as Ringo drums a solo on a champagne bucket.
Photo 4: Paul leads a sing-along of "She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain."
Photo 5: Paul tells son James, three, to watch the birdie while Linda makes up for daughter Heather's shyness.
"I feel fabulous," proclaimed Ringo Starr. And why not? Minutes earlier, with Paul McCartney and George Harrison looking on, the ex-Beatles drummer had exchanged marriage vows with American actress Barbara Bach.
It was the first time in a dozen years that the three surviving Beatles had been reunited, and the historic occasion, documented in these exclusive photographs, brought out some 350 fans who screeched and jostled one another outside Marylebone Town Hall. Despite a squad of security police - a somber reminder of John Lennon's murder last December - scuffles broke out, and one man was knocked unconscious.
The event took place a year after the couple met while co-starring in the recently released film Caveman. It was after miraculously surviving a car crash that the two decided they were destined for each other. Indeed, the groom's wedding present to the bride is the wreckage of his Mercedes - after being crushed into a cube, the sports car may be used as a work of art at home.
Except for white oxfords and a red rose, Ringo, 40, was dressed entirely in black. The 34-year-old bride, who has posed nude in Playboy, wore a gown of ivory silk taffeta created by Lady Diana's courtiers Elizabeth and David Emanuel. When the 10-minute civil ceremony was over, the wedding party leaped into a fleet of taxis and drove off to a posh Mayfair disco.
When the 60 or so wedding guests entered the night club Rags for the reception, they found a veritable bower of birch trees sparkling with tiny lights and some 4,000 paste diamonds. From an upstairs balcony, the partygoers were doused not with rice but with 5,000 rose petals and another 5,000 star-shaped sequins. Each guest received a star-shaped silver stickpin engraved with the inscription "R and B 27-4-81."
Later, after a sumptuous dinner including prawns, roast beef, salmon, and strawberries in cream, the three Beatles and their wives gathered around the two-tiered wedding cake, which was, of course, also shaped like a star....Finally, cheered on by their friends and the champagne punch, the Beatles held a jam session. With Ringo on bucket, George on guitar and Paul at the piano, everybody joined in "Lawdy, Miss Clawdy" and other old goodies.
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