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From Richard DiLello’s The Longest Cocktail Party:
“Beatle John Lennon and Japanese artist Yoko Ono were turned away at the Thoresen passenger terminal in Southampton fifteen minutes before the departure of the ferry Dragon to France, owing to inconsistencies in their passports—”
“Stop—”
“The couple took an early-morning flight to Paris where they spent four days, passing virtually unnoticed in the French capital—”
“Break—”
“…before departing in a privately chartered Hawker Siddeley jet piloted by Captain Trevor Coppleston. With them was The Beatles’ social coordinator and personal assistant Peter Brown and photographer David Nutter—”
“Go on—”
“They landed in Gibraltar March 20, 1969, at 8:30 A.M. and arrived at the registrar’s office shortly after 9 A.M. Yoko Ono was wearing a white minidress, white wide-brimmed hat and white knee socks. John Lennon wore a white pullover, white jacket and unmatched white trousers.1Both were wearing white tennis shoes—”
“All right—”
“Mr. Cecil Joseph Wheeler performed the three-minute ceremony pursuant to the marriage ordinance of the City and Garrison of Gibraltar. The license by special issue cost four pounds fourteen shillings—”
“And—”
“John Lennon repeated the marriage vows with a cigarette in one hand and Yoko Ono wore dark glasses throughout the brief ceremony—”
“Leave that bit out—”
“Apple spokesman Derek Taylor said the cost of the wedding, which included the chartered jet from Luton to Gibraltar, hotel accommodations for the Lennons and their two witnesses and clothing, was about eight thousand pounds—”
“Finish it—”
“Beatle John Lennon said, ‘We chose Gibraltar because it is quiet, British and friendly.’ Returning to Paris, Mrs. Lennon announced from their luxury suite at the Plaza Athenée Hotel near the Champs Elysées after Thursday’s civil ceremony that the couple were planning a a big happening within the next seven days—”
I sense a song coming on.