LONDON // Former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney and American heiress Nancy Shevell were married yesterday, emerging joyously from a 45-minute civil ceremony to be showered with confetti from fans.
The former pop icon raised his bride's arm in triumph as they blew kisses to the hundreds of fans waiting on the steps of the Old Marylebone Town Hall.
Ms Shevell wore an elegant, understated, above-the-knee gown designed by McCartney's daughter, Stella. He wore a blue suit, a pale blue tie and a gigantic grin. The couple drove off in a burgundy Lexus for a gala reception at their nearby home in St John's Wood.
Guests included fellow former Beatle Ringo Starr, in a casual black T-shirt under his fitted suit, and his wife, the actress Barbara Bach.
McCartney married his first wife, Linda Eastman, at the same place in 1969.
Details of yesterday's ceremony have not been released but it is believed that McCartney's younger brother, Mike, served as best man, and his youngest daughter Beatrice as a flower girl.
A tent had been set up at McCartney's house for a reception and gloomy skies brightened after a rainy start.
Ms Shevell, 51, is McCartney's third wife. The couple met in the Hamptons in Long Island, New York, shortly after the singer's divorce from Heather Mills in 2008. They got engaged earlier this year.
It is Ms Shevell's second marriage. She seemed relaxed as she arrived for the ceremony.
Ms Shevell, who is independently wealthy, was married for more than 20 years to an attorney, Bruce Blakeman.