Elton John To Marry David Furnish

The singer says the ceremony will be a "joyous occasion"

Published 31st Mar 2014

Elton John has announced he’s marrying his long-term partner David Furnish.

Sir Elton and David, who have been together for over two decades, were among the first couples in the UK to form a civil partnership in December 2005.

Legislation to allow same-sex marriages in England and Wales came into effect on 29th March and Elton says he can’t wait to tie the knot.

"We'll do it very quietly,” Elton told NBC’s Today Show. “But we will do it and it will be a joyous occasion.

"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."

The 67-year-old continued: “I'm very proud of Britain and the laws that we've seen come into existence since we've been together.

"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."

Couples in civil partnerships currently can’t convert to marriage, however, the government is planning to change this by the end of 2014. It’s not clear whether this will affect Sir Elton’s plans.

The couple have two sons together – three-year-old Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John and one-year-old Elijah Joseph Daniel Furnish-John/