LONDON (AP) - Zak Starkey, 19-year-old son of former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr married the 25-year-old daughter of a hairdresser in a secret ceremony at a register ofice in a London suburb, the bride's mother reported today.
Starkey and Sarah Menikides were married Thursday in Bracknell, 30 miles west of London, the bride's mother, Bunty Menikides, told the British domestic news agency Press Association.
She said there were only three witnesses at the ceremony, which was kept secret on instructions from Starr, 44, whose real name is Richard Starkey.
"Ringo's family and our family decided to stay away from the service to try to protect Zak and Sarah from publicity. I don't think they would have been able to cope with all the razzmatazz," said Mrs. Mendikides, whose husband is a hairdresser in London's swank Mayfair district.
"We sent out an official announcement to close members of the family, telling them of the marriage, but we stressed that they were all sworn to secrecy," she said.
She said the family and friends attended a champagne party Thursday night at Starr's mansion, Tittenhurst Park, at Ascot. The bride and groom will live in a small cottage on the grounds of Tittenhurst Park, she said.
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February 1985
The 19-year-old drummer, who is the oldest of Ringo's three children, wed Sarah Mendikes, 25, secretly at a registrar's ofice in Ascot, England, with only three close friends present.
"Zak can thank Sarah for getting him back on the straight and narrow, and also for getting him back with his father," says the friend.
"When she met him about three years ago, Zak was drinking heavily and doing drugs, and Ringo was disgusted with him, and not even speaking to him.
"But, Sarah sort of reached him. She laid down the law about drugs and drinking - drugs are out, and alcohol is limited. She's threatened to leave him if he goes back to his old hell-raising ways" the friend continues. "The other good thing to come out of the relationship is that Zak is now back on good terms with his dad.
"Ringo didn't go to the wedding, because Zak wanted to avoid publicity. But he did hold the reception for them afterwards at his mansion."
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~ Zak Starkey ~
~ Back To Mars ~
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