“The first thing I thought was what a sneaky thing to do, arranging it before I flew back from holiday! But still, he’s good, he’s joined the club”
John, 1965
|Joseph and Florence Cox, Cynthia, John, George, Ringo, Maureen, Brian Epstein, Harry and Elsie Graves
It's hard to believe that the only Beatle wedding John attended (other than his own two weddings) is Ringo and Maureen. When George got married to Pattie, John was on vacation with Ringo and their wives; to Olivia, John was living in New York City. When Paul married Linda, John was not only uninvited but he was visiting his Aunt Mimi with Yoko. John died in 1980, before Ringo married Barbara and Paul married Heather and Nancy (yet Paul married Nancy on John's birthday in 2011, which I personally have mixed feelings about that, but anyway...).
Ringo Starr and Maureen Cox met in 1962 although Maureen was a regular Cavern Club goer and saw The Beatles and Rory Storm & the Hurricanes live a number of times. I wouldn't say that Maureen was pals with anybody just yet although Cynthia did write in her second book that they were friends since then. Perhaps Maureen was one of Cynthia's protectors from the bullying treatment Cynthia would get from jealous fans? Or they politely nodded each other's existence from afar with pleasantry chats on occasion? I don't know, but there must have been a bond there right from the start. After Ringo joined the Beatles, he was leaving the Cavern while Maureen was hanging outside. She got his autograph and as he was driving away, Maureen wrote down his license plate number which she remembered until her dying day. It was a relationship that gradually turned romantic and soon Maureen too was facing the fans jealous wrath, getting scratched in the face to being taunted at her hairdressing job. Whenever Ringo had off, he spent it with her. In 1964, while Ringo was having his tonsils out, Maureen traveled to London with ice cream; during the visit, Ringo brought up the idea of marriage but didn't propose… until January of 1965 during a night out clubbing at Ad Lib. It was around the same time Maureen discovered that she was pregnant. A similar planning of a wedding like John and Cynthia's however there are differences: it was secret until last minute, there was a photographer, and Ringo and Maureen also had a bit of a press conference during their honeymoon.
Ringo and Maureen got married on February 11, 1965 at Caxton Hall in London. Brian Epstein was Best Man; attendees include Ringo's mother and stepfather, Maureen's parents, George Harrison, John and Cynthia. Paul McCartney and Jane Asher were away on vacation.
“No I wasn’t amazed, shocked or anything like that when I heard Ringo was going to get married- I was surprised he hadn’t done it before. He’s the marrying kind, a sort of family man. In fact, on his wedding day he said to me: ‘I wish I had done it when you did, John’.
The wedding had been planned for about three weeks beforehand but we’ve been away so Cyn and I didn’t know until we got back from our skiing holiday, only a few days before the wedding. I was surprised I hadn’t known sooner. Not that I can grumble...
No, I didn’t learn about Ringo’s marriage-to-be from him. The day after I got back from Switzerland I was with a photographer planning the last stages of my next book, ‘Spaniard in the Works’ (that’s a plug by the way) when this fellow said: ‘Of course, you know about Ringo.’
I said: ‘No, go on,’ and he blurted it out. The following day George and I had a meeting with film producer Walter Shenson and after it Brian Epstein ‘officially’ told us in his car. George was amazed; he said something like…well, anway he was amazed! Then he said: ‘Hee hee, more fans for me!’
Paul was on holiday in North Africa and we hadn’t planned to tell him until he got back- which would be after the event. But I had visions of newspaper reporters out there asking him for his comments and thinking it was just another Beatle marriage rumour, he’d have laughed it off.
We didn’t get Ringo any wedding presents. There wasn’t time. I suppose we could have bought a couple of spoons and taken them along to the ceremony but he would have had to carry them down to Hove, so what was the point? We’ll get him something good when they’ve got a house.
There wasn’t a wedding breakfast either. As soon as it was all over they dashed away. Even most of the ‘wedding’ photographs were taken the previous night.
I haven’t a clue where they’re going to live because Ringo has got to get out of his mews flat. Their home will have to be in London because he works there. Of course they’re going to have a family. There isn’t much point getting married otherwise.
Yes, he’ll make a good husband. He’s basically kind and there’s no side to him. Marriage won’t stop him going to nightclubs Maureen’s almost always gone with him anyway.
I don’t think Ringo’s marriage will do the group any harm because he’s accepted for what he is, as I was- a sort of comedy character- not so much a sex symbol.
He’ll lose a few fans but he’ll gain some new ones also- as I did. I suppose Ringo and I will have sort of joint fans now. I don’t think the group will lose fans. Those who leaves Ringo will switch over to the other two.
Anyway, right now Ringo is too wrapped up in being married to worry about fan reprisals.
Any more Beatles marriages on the way? No, I don’t think so. If Paul is going to marry Jane, and George to marry Pattie, then look at it this way- those girls have careers of their own and they’re not ready to settle down yet as Maureen was.
There is no question of Ringo leaving the group; there never has been. Even when this is all over we’ll still be four people together. It isn’t like losing touch with your best mates when you leave school. We’ll probably all be in business together one day.”
The wedding had been planned for about three weeks beforehand but we’ve been away so Cyn and I didn’t know until we got back from our skiing holiday, only a few days before the wedding. I was surprised I hadn’t known sooner. Not that I can grumble...
No, I didn’t learn about Ringo’s marriage-to-be from him. The day after I got back from Switzerland I was with a photographer planning the last stages of my next book, ‘Spaniard in the Works’ (that’s a plug by the way) when this fellow said: ‘Of course, you know about Ringo.’
I said: ‘No, go on,’ and he blurted it out. The following day George and I had a meeting with film producer Walter Shenson and after it Brian Epstein ‘officially’ told us in his car. George was amazed; he said something like…well, anway he was amazed! Then he said: ‘Hee hee, more fans for me!’
Paul was on holiday in North Africa and we hadn’t planned to tell him until he got back- which would be after the event. But I had visions of newspaper reporters out there asking him for his comments and thinking it was just another Beatle marriage rumour, he’d have laughed it off.
We didn’t get Ringo any wedding presents. There wasn’t time. I suppose we could have bought a couple of spoons and taken them along to the ceremony but he would have had to carry them down to Hove, so what was the point? We’ll get him something good when they’ve got a house.
There wasn’t a wedding breakfast either. As soon as it was all over they dashed away. Even most of the ‘wedding’ photographs were taken the previous night.
I haven’t a clue where they’re going to live because Ringo has got to get out of his mews flat. Their home will have to be in London because he works there. Of course they’re going to have a family. There isn’t much point getting married otherwise.
Yes, he’ll make a good husband. He’s basically kind and there’s no side to him. Marriage won’t stop him going to nightclubs Maureen’s almost always gone with him anyway.
I don’t think Ringo’s marriage will do the group any harm because he’s accepted for what he is, as I was- a sort of comedy character- not so much a sex symbol.
He’ll lose a few fans but he’ll gain some new ones also- as I did. I suppose Ringo and I will have sort of joint fans now. I don’t think the group will lose fans. Those who leaves Ringo will switch over to the other two.
Anyway, right now Ringo is too wrapped up in being married to worry about fan reprisals.
Any more Beatles marriages on the way? No, I don’t think so. If Paul is going to marry Jane, and George to marry Pattie, then look at it this way- those girls have careers of their own and they’re not ready to settle down yet as Maureen was.
There is no question of Ringo leaving the group; there never has been. Even when this is all over we’ll still be four people together. It isn’t like losing touch with your best mates when you leave school. We’ll probably all be in business together one day.”
John, 1965
“There was no tears. We’d threatened Mrs. Starkey that if she cried, she wouldn’t be one of the gang”
John, 1965
“It was very early and we all felt a bit ill, except Ringo. He looked extremely well. He kept going because he was getting married. Ringo wore a light-ish gray tweedy kind of suit with the pants sort of raised up in the front and the jacket sort of dropped down in the back. He had a white carnation and so did Brian Epstein. Nobody got us any. We were going to wear radishes, actually. Maureen had on an off-white suit of lacy wool and her hair was up and done in a sort of string bag at the back. It looked good, actually. She had orchids. Some fellow said ‘Are you Richard Starkey and are you Maureen Cox?’ and they said yes and I clapped at the end”
John, 1965
“The ceremony was over in ten minutes. There was no music, although I did think about humming the wedding march. Maureen is great, and we all like her a lot. This means that there are now two married Beatles and two unmarried Beatles. Two down, two to go.”
George, 1965
“In the month of February 1965, Richard Starkey and Maureen Cox, Liverpool hairdresser, were quietly wed. Maureen was in the same condition as I on the day of my wedding, although the circumstances were much more settled for them. Their future seemed very secure and it was a very happy occasion for all concerned. The family was growing. Two down, two to go. The fans, although sad at losing half of the Fab Four to the opposition, were very understanding and loyal. Fan letters arrived by their hundreds. In the main, they supported the family group, the rest ignored the fact that wives and children even existed.”
Cynthia, 1978 from her book A Twist of Lennon
“In January Maureen found she was pregnant and their wedding was hastily arranged for February 11, 1965, at London's Caxton Hall. It was a carbon copy of the situation in which John and I had found ourselves, except that this time the world's press was waiting to capture all the details. Once again, Brian did all the arranging. Maureen's pregnancy was kept secret, and to avoid publicity the register agreed to perform the ceremony at eight a.m. Paul and Jane were on holiday in Tunisia, but George, John and I went, with Maureen's mother and Ringo's mother and stepfather. Once again, Brian was best man, and after a touching ceremony we all went back to Brian's house in Belgravia for a celebration breakfast. The newlyweds went on honeymoon to Hove, near Brighton, for three days, then Ringo had to get back to work. Maureen had just turned eighteen and, to the press, appeared shy and unsophisticated. Like me, she preferred to stay in the background and give few interviews. In a brief meeting with journalists during their honeymoon she held Ringo's hand tightly and said little. One article said that one of the world's best-known bridegrooms had married one of the lease-known brides. But that was the way Ringo and Maureen wanted it. Like John, Ringo believed his family should be kept out of the limelight. He wanted to protect and shelter them and that was the best way he knew of doing it.”
Cynthia, 2005 from her book John
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