Elton John is to marry his long-term partner David Furnish.
The couple are already in a civil partnership but want to take their vows now that same sex marriage is legal in England and Wales.
The pair held a lavish civil partnership ceremony in 2005 in Windsor, but David Furnish told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the wedding ceremony would be a little more low-key.
“With the kids, everything is different,” he said. “I think what we’ll do is go to a registry office in England in May, and take the boys with us, and a couple of witnesses.” He said
Sir Elton spoke of how happy he was that Britain had now made gay marriage legal.
“I’m very proud of Britain and the laws that we’ve seen come into existence since we’ve been together,” Sir Elton said.
“Having our civil partnership was an incredible breakthrough for people that have campaigned for a long time – through the ’60s and the ’50s in England when it was so hard to be gay and hard to be open about it. And it was a criminal act.
“So for this legislation to come through is joyous, and we should celebrate it. We shouldn’t just say, ‘Oh, well we have a civil partnership. We’re not going to bother to get married.’ We will get married.”
Sir Elton said their civil partnership had “huge impact” on their commitment. “We didn’t think it would make much difference to our relationship, but it solidified our relationship,” he said.
Furnish added: “We don’t feel the need to take an extra step legally. But since we’re committed for life, we feel it’s really important to take that step, and take advantage of that amazing change in legislation. We all live by example.”
The Government have yet to announce the date on which couples who are already in civil partnerships will be able to convert to marriage.
