Elton John's Publicist Says Singer to Wed





LONDON (AP) -- Pop singer Elton John will marry his longtime partner David Furnish later this year or early next year, his publicist said Monday.

Britain's The Mirror tabloid newspaper reported Monday that John, 58, would marry his Canadian partner Furnish, 42, before Christmas.

Laws recognizing homosexual civil partnerships come into effect in Britain in December.

John's spokesman Gary Furrow told British Broadcasting Corp. the nuptials may be postponed until 2006.


"A date and a venue has not been set, so it may not be until next year," Furrow told the BBC.

John was reported in The Mirror as saying the wedding could be held in Windsor, west of London, where Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall were married earlier this month.

"We definitely want to do it about the middle of December, probably in Windsor," John was quoted as saying. "But there will be no honeymoon. I'm on tour."

The pair maybe among the first British homosexuals to take advantage of new laws recognizing gay civil partnerships, which come into effect in Britain on Dec. 5.







The law, which is only applicable to homosexuals and not as an alternative to heterosexual marriage, grants lesbian and gay couples the same tax, pension, and inheritance status as married couples.

John has publicly credited Furnish, who he has dated for 11 years, with helping him to overcome addictions to alcohol and drugs.