| Traditionally brides blush. And the wedding of
Gary Brooker,
founder and lead singer of The Procol Harum pop group, had
everything tradition demanded.
Swiss au-pair girl, Françoise Riedo, 22, made a beautiful bride. Her white bridal gown and flowing veil were in the best of traditional style. The bridegroom was immaculate in formal morning dress. But as the bride stepped through the church door, tradition took a knock. She walked up the aisle of St David's Church, Eastwood, Southend-on-Sea, to the strains of A Whiter Shade of Pale, the group's best-selling record which Gary helped to write.
Click the graphic to read some period adverts from an adjoining page, that has fortuitously been preserved |
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And by total coincidence, on exactly the same day, 13 July 1968, Diane Heathcote, 20 (a secretary) married John Rolph, 26, (a Chartered Structural Engineer) at St John's Church, West Byfleet, Surrey: and Diane, of course, was a mighty Paramounts fan, then a Procol fan, then ran Shine On with John Grayson and created the now-legendary nine-man Harum gathering at Redhill in 1997, before looking after many Procol tours in the early 2000s. |
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Billy from Philly writes to BtP: 'I am too young to have been married in the 60s; however, my father and stepmother, no longer with us, were married the same day Gary and Franky tied the knot. They were together until both passed away. Apparently a good day to be married!'
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