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CNN Live Today

Paul McCartney and Heather Mills Marry

Aired June 11, 2002 - 14:25   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Sir Paul McCartney has married his lady. The pop icon wed Heather Mills today before family and friends at a storybook castle in Ireland. The I Dos are done; now it's party time.

And our Richard Quest joins us now live with all the highlights right in the middle of the party. And it stopped raining, Richard, that's good news.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, for the first time in hours.

And Kyra, that was very appropriate. I don't know if we can get that bit of music again, "There Were Bells on a Hill," because that was very appropriate. Because the first real indication -- we've heard nothing from inside there about when the wedding happened, how it happened or any of the arrangements, but what we did hear were the bells. And they rang on a hill from a church, St. Salvator's Church, it's just over in that direction. And that was pretty much the indication that we got that actually the marriage had taken place.

The ceremony was delayed by about half an hour because of low- flying press helicopters. And apparently the McCartneys and the organizers were absolutely steaming about it, and delayed the ceremony. We're waiting to see any pictures.

We haven't yet seen the picture. There was only going to be one picture, Kyra, as you know, that was going to be offered to the press for those people who were prepared to make a donation to the land mine charity. We haven't seen that picture yet. We don't know whether that's because they were all a bit cross at the way the press behaved with the helicopter.

PHILLIPS: All right, our Richard Quest, thank you so much.

Well we're going to talk about more details about this big event. We're going to bring in Roger Kasper. He's deputy editor of "Hello" magazine, which covers celebrities and royalty in Europe. He's with us from London.

So tell us how big this is for Europe and the rest of the world, Roger.

ROGER KASPER, DEPUTY EDITOR, "HELLO" MAGAZINE: It's bigger than the World Cup. Paul McCartney getting married in Ireland, it's fantastic news.

PHILLIPS: Bigger than the World Cup, really? More people are tuning in?

KASPER: Definitely. Sorry, say again?

PHILLIPS: No, we hear each other just fine.

All right, tell us about this wedding. Is this the big who's who of music or is it much more intimate than we may think it is?

KASPER: No, I think it's Live Aid Mach II, isn't it? There's Eric Clapton, Sting, Bono, all being flown in. I think Elton John might even be there. Of course there's great Ringo Starr as well. So I think it's a very star-studded affair even though Paul McCartney was yesterday claiming that it was only 10 people that we'd recognize. I recognize about 15, 20 already.

PHILLIPS: And they've been very private and they've been very closed off about this. Let's talk about why.

KASPER: Why? I think he's a man who's obviously got a great deal of wealth and doesn't need to make a public display of his affections. A lot of people these days aren't doing weddings for magazines anymore, so a little bit of that market is dropping out for us, unfortunately, but we'd like to encourage more people to do weddings, please.

PHILLIPS: A little plug there, Roger.

Hey listen, McCartney's children, what's the relationship between them and Heather Mills?

KASPER: I understand it's frosty, although his people were telling me that actually they do get along very well. And Stella McCartney has given her thumbs-up to the union. So reports that there is a rift in the family might be overstated.

PHILLIPS: What about friends of McCartney, have they been pretty -- friends that were close to Paul and to Linda, have they been supportive of this wedding?

KASPER: They've been very supportive, actually. I think people feel that he's left it enough time. I think it's four years now and -- since she died. And people were worried at first that he jumped in too early with the relationship, but he's let the relationship blossom. And I think the family have actually come round and people like Stella McCartney have taken it more onboard now. And I think they've been extremely supportive.

PHILLIPS: A lot of people have criticized this because you know he's twice her age. From the stories that you've put together, other stories and interviews that have been done, what's your take on their relationship, their maturity level, their level of love?

KASPER: I think there's a -- it's a huge level of love. I think he is extremely supportive of her and all the charity work that she does. They actually met at a charity event, and she is very -- a big campaigner for -- anti-land mine campaigner. And he's been extremely supportive of that. And she's been extremely supportive of him going on tour. They seem to be almost inseparable in a way that Linda McCartney was -- and Paul were inseparable.

PHILLIPS: Roger Kasper, deputy editor of the magazine "Hello" magazine, thank you so much for being with us.

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