all you need is love, love, love...
"Just The Two Of Us"
Do as John Lennon & Yoko Ono did by eloping to Gibraltar and getting married at the registry office on 20th March 1969 and celebrating at the iconic Rock Hotel! The couple were then famously photographed standing on the runway, holding their marriage certificate up against the backdrop of the Rock of Gibraltar.
John had tried to get married in Paris originally but due to the red tape as the couple were not French residents, they faced paperwork issues. John later said they chose Gibraltar because it was 'quiet, British and friendly'. This single quote made Gibraltar famous globally as a popular wedding destination.
'The Ballad of John & Yoko', written by John Lennon whilst on honeymoon in Paris, chronicles the events surrounding the wedding of this famous couple. The song was the Beatles' 17th UK number one single.
a homage to the beatle who put gibraltar on the destination wedding map
over the years: more celebrity elopements in gibraltar
1957 Lawrence Harvey & Margaret Leighton
1975 Sean Connery & Micheline Roquebrune
1962 Sean Connery & Diane Cilento
Much before the Lennons, it was the prominent British actors, Lawrence Harvey & Margaret Leighton who tied the knot in a quiet ceremony on the Rock. The couple met on the sets of the 1954 movie, 'The Good Die Young'.
1962 Sean Connery & Diane Cilento
1975 Sean Connery & Micheline Roquebrune
1962 Sean Connery & Diane Cilento
A few years after Lawrence Harvey & Margaret Leighton, the James Bond actor chose Gibraltar for his 29th November 1962 nuptials to Oscar nominated, Australian actress, Diane Cilento at the Gibraltar Registry Office. The couple were expecting their son, Jason, at the time and held a small ceremony with two local taxi drivers acting as their witnesses before honeymooning in Marbella, Spain.
1975 Sean Connery & Micheline Roquebrune
1975 Sean Connery & Micheline Roquebrune
1973 Frederick Forsyth & Carole C
Sean Connery must have really fallen in love with Gibraltar as he returned to be married a second time to French-Moroccan painter, Micheline Roquebrune. The couple met at a golf tournament in Morocco in 1970 and remained together for over 45 years until Connery's death in 2020.
1973 Frederick Forsyth & Carole C
1973 Frederick Forsyth & Carole C
1973 Frederick Forsyth & Carole C
The celebrity author of 'The Day of the Jackal' and 'The Odessa File', Frederick Forsyth, married his first wife, Carole Cunningham in Gibraltar in September 1973. It was a relatively quick, simple ceremony at the registry office.
2006 Rick Parfitt & Lyndsey Whitburn
1973 Frederick Forsyth & Carole C
2006 Rick Parfitt & Lyndsey Whitburn
Status Quo rock legend, Rick Parfitt chose Gibraltar for a hush-hush elopement to his longtime partner, beauty salon owner, Lyndsey Whitburn. The pair married in a low key ceremony in the summer of 2006 and left for their honeymoon within two hours of getting married.
2013 Douglas Hall & Louise Roberts
1973 Frederick Forsyth & Carole C
2006 Rick Parfitt & Lyndsey Whitburn
Former football tycoon, Douglas Hall, tied the knot at Kings Chapel followed by a reception a members only club. Louise and Douglas worked together when she was secretary at Newcastle United and he was Deputy Chairman.
wait, there's more...
Did you know that another 007 actor, Roger Moore, honeymooned in Gibraltar in 1969?
It was just a few days after John & Yoko had been married in Gibraltar when the famous Bond actor and his wife, Luisa Mattioli, arrived at the Rock Hotel on 13th April 1969.
The James Bond series has historically had connections with Gibraltar as follows:
1950s: Bond author, Ian Fleming, visited Gibraltar
1967: 'You Only Live Twice' - Europa Point was used to film a burial at sea
1987: 'The Living Daylights' - the opening sequence was filmed on the Rock featuring a pre-credit parachute jump and car chase
high profile elopement by Bride Gibraltar
2025: The Earl of Dartmouth & Diandra Douglas
Bride Gibraltar had the honour of arranging the wedding of William Legge, 10th Earl of Dartmouth, grandson of the late novelist, Dame Barbara Cartland and step-brother of the late Diana, Princess of Wales to Diandra Douglas, film producer and the ex-wife of Hollywood actor, Michael Douglas on 17th September 2025.
The intimate ceremony took place in The Dell in the Alameda Gardens with just two witnesses, a Bride Gibraltar wedding representative, photographer and a surprise wedding singer who serenaded the bride down the aisle with her favourite tune.
The couple hosted a post ceremony champagne afternoon tea at the Rock Hotel and generously invited the Bride Gibraltar team to join them.
Later that evening, the couple enjoyed a lavish dinner at the multi-award winning, AA Rosette holder, Little Bay Bar & Restaurant https://littlebay.gi