Katie Price got married again last week. Is this even news any more? I have not mentioned celebrity marriages for some time, which shows either unusual restraint on my part or simply reflects the fact that there are perhaps signs that the public is falling out of love with C-lister nuptials.
For a while there, you could not open a tabloid or look at the Mail online without having to plough through several images of overblown wedding ceremonies for those in the public eye before you got any real news. Is the tide changing or is reality just biting?
“The glamour of celebrity weddings is a poor indicator of future marital success.” So says a recent report from The Marriage Foundation that I have only just stumbled upon which shows that celebrities are twice as likely to be divorced after 10 years as us “normal” people.
A report from The Marriage Foundation examined 572 well-known celebrity couples who have tied the knot since the year 2000.The not unsurprising conclusion is that people should have more accurate expectations of how much hard work it takes to keep a marriage together and if you are in the public eye, you have added pressures, which gives a 40 per cent divorce rate within 10 years compared to 20 per cent for those who can pop to Asda unrecognised.
It is unfortunate that some young people will look at the “fairytale” wedding of their favourite soap or singing idol and think “I want that”. They then rush into a marriage ill prepared for the challenges that lie ahead – and all too happy to jack it in and go for a divorce at the first sign of difficulty. This is a sweeping generalisation, I know, but it is not uncommon.
Celebrities are in a position of power in that they are put on a pedestal by adoring younger fans. They have the chance to do so much good, and many do so with their charity work and the like, but they can also set very bad examples through decisions they make in their private lives. What message is Katie Price sending out by getting married for the third time to someone who she has known only for a short time?
Marriage is not easy. She should know. She’s been through two divorces already. It would just be nice if she tried to get that message across, and that good marriages are worth fighting for, rather than “easy come, easy go”.
Andrew Woolley
Family solicitor
