PRESS UPDATE : THE DAILY TELEGRAPH .. SATURDAY FEBRUARY 13TH 2021 ..

 

Joan Collins: ‘I’ve been married four times but this was a proper wedding – and a proper marriage’

Joan Collins on the ‘magical’ day she married Percy Gibson on 17 February 2002 - 19 years ago this week..

By Joan Collins..

I met Percy in 2000 in San Francisco – I was doing a play with George Hamilton, and Percy was the company manager. Percy and I became very close and we had so much in common that, after about a year, we decided to make it legal.

I think it was 9/11 that put it into perspective. We decided that life was short and who knew what was going to happen. I never thought I was going to get married again, I’d done it four times already – but we loved each other and that was that. And we had a wonderful, wonderful wedding, at Claridge’s.

There were 170 guests – the best man was Chris Pennington, a friend of Percy’s from university, and I was given away by Max Bryer, the husband of my best friend, Judy Bryer – they flew in from Las Vegas. He walked me down the aisle and Judy was my matron of honour.

I wore a pale-lilac Nolan Miller couture gown, slightly off the shoulder and quite tight-waisted with a little train, and Philip Treacy made me a marvellous confection for my hair – very, very light and delicate – of pale lilac flowers. It was an absolutely magical day. So many friends flew in – like my darling Roger Moore, who I’d known since I was 15, and Shirley Bassey came in from Monaco, and Christopher Biggins and Rupert Everett.

Joan with her Nolan Miller on display at the Brides the Show Iconic Wedding Dress Exhibition

We stayed in Claridge’s that night, in the honeymoon suite, and then went to Mauritius. It was a traditional wedding in every respect – there were speeches, there was cake, there was dancing. Both Shirley Bassey and Cilla Black sang and it was really magical.

The weather? It poured with rain, darling. But Claridge’s is such a wonderful hotel, it didn’t matter at all. My three children were there [Tara, Alexander and Katyana] and their partners, and all Percy’s family, from Peru and Scotland. When he first called his mother to tell her about us, he said, ‘I just want to tell you before you read it in the papers that Joan Collins and I have got together.’ She paused and said, ‘You know, one thing about you, Percy, is that you’ve never bored me. 

Percy and I have a wonderful relationship and we treat each other with great respect and kindness – I believe that you should treat somebody the way you want to be treated yourself. Of course we argue, but amazingly we haven’t argued much during this lockdown, considering we have been together 24/7 for almost a year. Of course it’s been difficult – for someone like me who is very social and likes going out, to the theatre and to the cinema and meeting friends, it’s been very hard. And it’s also been very hard on my carpet, because I have worn a path on it with all the walking I’ve done.

Now we’re coming up to our 19th wedding anniversary; normally we have a party but we’ll just have to celebrate with friends on Zoom. But next year I hope we’ll go back to Claridge’s.

Joan with her bridesmaids at Claridges..

I have been married four times before but this was a proper wedding, and it’s been a proper marriage for 19 years – 19 very happy years. My children adore Percy and they were delighted to hear we were getting married, as were all of our friends.

And if people remark on the age difference I just say, ‘Well, if he dies, he dies.’

Interview by Jessamy Calkin