AT LAST, wedding bells - or at least the sound of the registrar's pen scratching across a marriage certificate. The long awaited rock'n'roll marriage of Oasis guitarist, Liam Gallagher, to his actress girlfriend, Patsy Kensit, took place at Westminster register office yesterday morning.
But the British media, which had been trailing the couple across London for months, were "gazumped".
Liam and Patsy married in secrecy at 8.30 n.m. It was too early for the press photographers and definitely too early for Liam's brother, Noel, who admitted he didn't get up in time. With typically understated charm he said: "It was really too early. I wasn't there. I was in bed."
While the ceremony seems to have been a low key affair, the venue was in keeping with the rock star image. Westminster register office, in Marylebone Road, has played host to celebrity manages in the past, including Paul McCartney and Linda Eastman in 1969, and more recently, Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas.
The statement from Oasis's record company, Creation Records, confirmed the marriage in succinct style. It read: "The couple are extremely happy and very pleased that they've finally been able to tie the knot without any intrusion. No honeymoon is planned."
A spokesman for Creation said later Liam and Patsy's parents had not attended the ceremony. "It was totally, totally private with just them and the registrar. .. and they are too busy to go on honeymoon.
Betting on whether the couple would eventually marry this year made one man from Telford, Shropshire, £420 richer. He staked £140 at odds of 3/I.
A spokesman for the betting agent, William Hill, said yesterday, "A number of successful punters have won a couple of thousand pounds in total on the pair marrying."
Considering that this is Patsy's third marriage, William Hill has offered odds of 5/4 on the couple still being married in three years, and 50/1 that they will celebrate their golden wedding anniversary.