It can be the most romantic, the cheesiest, or the most commercial day. The fact is that on February 14, the Valentine’s Day, is chosen by many couples around the world to “celebrate” their love…and to celebrate weddings and knee-hand requests in the field. But choosing this special date is in no way a guarantee of “eternal love”. Elton John, Prince or even Liam Gallagher got married on the day of the saint of Roman origin… and the three divorced. A Lady Gaga They offered him this date so full of heart and the relationship broke up a year later.
Elton and Renate
Extraordinarily surprising was the marriage of Elton John (36) to Renate Blauel (28), a German sound engineer and former steward. The couple had met a year and a half earlier, on the Caribbean island of Montserrat, while working together on the album Too low for zero. On February 14, 1984, in Sydney (Australia), they married. The two dressed in white, smiling, posed at the gates of St Mark’s Anglican Church. After the wedding, the singer told reporters: “I want to be a family man.” The press describes the link as follows: “It was Valentine’s Day and Elton John was making one last attempt to be straight”. The union unleashed all sorts of speculation. They said it was a cover.
Elton and Renate divorced four years later, in November 1988. Blauel disappears from public life and declares that the breakup was amicable: “we want to continue to be best friends”. For his part, he revealed in Vanity Fair: “I was living a lie.” Shortly after the split, Elton John came out as gay and began dating his current husband, David Furnish. They married civilly in 2005 and for the religious ceremony, in 2014, they chose the month of December. They have two sons together: Zachary (born in 2010) and Elijah (in 2013).
Elton John and Renate in 1986 / Mirrorpix (Getty Images)
Prince and Mayte
On Valentine’s Day 1996, Prince (37) married dancer Mayte Garcia (22).). They had met when she was 16. They married in Minneapolis, in a small Methodist church the musician attended when he was young. They have also chosen the color white for their bridal outfits. They put so much effort into keeping the ceremony a secret that the singer He drove to the chapel in the back of the van in which the flowers were transported. There were only a few guests, including Prince’s mother and stepfather. Garcia wrote in her book ‘The Most Beautiful’: “After the wedding, he asked me under hypnosis if I was upset that we didn’t have a big church wedding. I told him, “I’m glad only a few people are here. No more room for angels.”
Prince and Mayte separated in 1998. The loss of their son, seven days after his birth, and Prince’s affair with another woman end the marriage. “He took me out…it was like he expected me to disappear and, in a way, that’s what I did,” Mayte said. “I felt like I was sliding down the sewer and I didn’t have the will to fight anymore.” In the year 2000, they obtained the annulment of the marriage, and the following yearIn 2001, Prince had a new wife, Manuela Testolini. They married in a private ceremony… on December 31.
Prince and Mayte García in 1995 / Rob Verhorst (Getty Images)
Liam and Nicole
Liam Gallagher and Nicole Appleton were married in an intimate and secret ceremony on February 14, 2008. It was so secret that even Liam’s brother, Noel, didn’t attend the event: he was working in the US on the band’s new album. It took place at the Westminster Official Register, the same place where the singer married his first wife, Patsy Kensit, in 1997. A friend of the couple said: “It was exactly what Liam and Nicole wanted, a romantic and intimate ceremony.”
Liam and Nicole divorced in April 2014. The relationship broke down after learning that the Oasis singer had had a secret son following an affair with journalist Liza Ghorbani. Liam hasn’t remarried but the All Saints singer has been through the altar yet again…. in October 2021.
Liam Gallagher and Nicole Appleton in 2012 / Mike Marsland (Getty Images)
Proposals… without marriage
After three years of relationship, Actor Taylor Kinney has proposed to Lady Gaga. He did it on Valentine’s Day 2015. The romantic request for one hand, knee down was in Manhattan… “it was snowing, it was sunny,” he told the Chicago Tribune. Lady Gaga revealed the happy news to her fans on Instagram, sharing a photo of her heart-shaped diamond ring. However, the couple separated in July 2016.
Lady Gaga and Taylor Kinney in 2016 / photo alliance (Getty Images)
There are other couples who have also chosen the “international day of love” to get engaged, but have not yet taken the “final” step. This is the case of Christina Aguilera and Matt Rutler, who got engaged in 2014, on a heavenly beach, and have no wedding plans. or that of Orlando Bloom and Katy Perry. After three years of dating, the actor asked the singer to be his wife on Valentine’s Day 2019. He did so on a romantic helicopter “flight.” They both have a daughter. And, for the moment, nothing indicates that they will celebrate a wedding banquet. Katy said she will say “yes” when they can get married in a remote and special place.