As Peter Phillips and Autumn Kelly exchanged wedding rings, the Hello! photographer was waiting in the wings. The royal wedding opened its doors to the celebrity magazine after it paid the couple £500,000 to publish the wedding photographs. The exchange of wedding rings for the rich, the royal and the famous it seems has become big business. But other couples who invited the celebrity gossip magazine into their private lives have come a cropper. Many a celebrity has received lavish coverage in the magazine, with loving photos lingering on engagement and wedding rings, dresses and cakes. But whether or not it was wise to exchange wedding rings in front of the publication remains to be seen. Newspapers have reported recently on what has been called 'the curse of Hello!'
Wedding Rings: The Royal Wave
Although the glossy magazines are all desperate to snag a photo of the royal wedding rings, the Queen objected strongly to the magazine deal. And the royal couple themselves may have reconsidered given the evidence of the curse of Hello!- When Ulrika Johnson married John Turnbull, Hello! covered the couple flashing their wedding rings – but the marriage ended five years later. Her second marriage to Lance Gerrard-Wright, also got front-page treatment; it ended two years later.
- Even unlikely celebrities such as rap-star Eminem featured in the glossy pages with wife Kim Mathers showing off their wedding rings – only to file for divorce weeks later.
- Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley were famously pictured wearing their wedding rings in the pages of Hello! They divorced just two weeks later.