She is a screen icon, a legend and a mystery. Decades after her death, Marilyn Monroe is still much-loved and revered by many. Considering her legendary sex-symbol status, it seems fitting to take a look into her relationships.
The blonde bombshell had been married three times in her short life. Let’s take a walk down memory lane…
Husband 1: Jim Dougherty (1942)
A then-unknown 15-year-old Norma Jean Baker began dating Jim Dougherty, her 20-year-old neighbour in 1941. At the time, Monroe was living with Grace Goddard, a friend of her mother, Gladys, who was in and out of psychiatric facilities.
“They wanted to move back to [West] Virginia, and they couldn’t take Norma Jean,” Dougherty said in an interview. “She would have gone back to an orphanage or another foster home, so her foster mother suggested I marry her.
The pair married a few days after Monroe’s 16th birthday in 1942. Monroe wore a floor-length A-line dress with sheer long sleeves and a ruffled neckline. A few months into their marriage, Monroe was discovered while working at Radioplane Co when a photographer used her as a subject in a project of women working as part of the war effort.
She quickly became an in-demand model, causing a strain on her marriage as her career ambitions rose. The pair divorced in 1946.
Husband 2: Joe DiMaggio
Her career quickly escalating, Monroe met world-class baseball player Joe DiMaggio in 1952. DiMaggio had seen a photo of the actress and asked the photographer to set them up on a date.
They tied the knot on 14 January, 1954 in an informal wedding ceremony at the San Francisco courthouse. For their nuptials, Monroe wore a dark brown skirt suit with a white fur collar and carried a small bunch of orchids. Upon her death, the suit was auctioned off in 1998, fetching a price of $33,350.
This relatively short marriage was also a turbulent one. Monroe had to cut their honeymoon in Japan short to perform for troops in Korea. DiMaggio became controlling of Monroe’s career, becoming a part of all her contract negotiations and restricting the roles she may accept. The pair divorced a mere 274 days after saying I do. Monroe cited “mental cruelty” as the reason for the divorce.
Husband 3: Arthur Miller
Her third and final marriage was to famous playwright Arthur Miller, who she had met on set of the 1951 movie As Young As You Feel. Monroe wrote about the encounter in her diary, saying “Met a man tonight … It was, bam! It was like running into a tree. You know, like a cool drink when you’ve had a fever.” Monroe went on to marry DiMaggio, however, but they began a scandalous affair years later, while both were still finalising their divorces. At the time, the playwright was also under much scrutiny by the FBI under Joseph McCarthy for being an alleged communist sympathiser.
The pair wed on 29 June, 1956 at Westchester County Court in New York. They followed this up with a traditional Jewish ceremony on 1 July at the home of Millers’ Hollywood agent, Kay Brown, in which Monroe also converted to Judaism. Monroe wore a mid-length figure-hugging gown with ruched sleeves for the occasion.
Their marriage was one filled with ups and downs. Both were in the media for having highly publicised affairs, and Monroe suffered many miscarriages that took a toll on her physical and mental health. The pair quickly divorced after filming wrapped on The Misfits, the short story Miller wrote for Monroe.
Monroe passed away in 1962 at the young age of 36. She’s left behind an iconic legacy that will never be forgotten.
Feature image: Pinterest
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Langley Castle in Northumberland is hundreds of years old. By it’s age alone we know that it’s faced many a struggle. Presently, the castle serves as a hotel and wedding venue and thus is facing a new challenge: COVID-19 and social distancing weddings.
In response to the crisis, and their need to keep the wedding industry alive (for their own good too, of course), the castle’s management have come up with a creative solution. In fact, the solution is said to be a first in the UK.
Already known for many other “firsts” such as being the first wedding venue in the country to offer civil marriages and being the first in the UK to offer Game of Thrones style weddings, they are now the first to offer “Bubble Weddings” as a social distancing solution.
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The Bubble wedding gives you a “castle to yourself” experience. According to Chronicle Live the offering is customised to your liking and is created to be intimate, being only for couples and their absolute nearest and dearest. This allows for the wedding to follow social distancing rules.
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There are two packages and they both adhere to the guidelines set by the Government.
The first package is a Bubble with Bubbles day for 10 people. Included in this package is a marriage at the castle, canapes, drinks, buffets and use of all nine bedrooms, costing £4,500.
The second package, called ‘Key to the Castle, is for 18 people. The guests are allowed to lockdown and run the castle. This will cost £6,500.
There is also an option for the couple to come alone and get married there.
In times like these, creative and out-of -the-box solutions are exactly what we need! Hopefully, others in the wedding industry will follow suit and introduce new ways around the COVID-19 challenge.
Image: Facebook / Langley Castle Weddings
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A new policy is in the works at the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) that will bring changes to marriage laws in South Africa.
The DHA, during a presentation to parliament, argued that the existing policies which deal with marriages are not rooted in consitutional values such as nondiscrimination and equality.
According to Business Tech, the DHA said that while there have been many changes since 1994, there are still many flaws in the existing legislation. “For instance, the current legislation does not regulate some religious marriages such as the Hindu, Muslim and other customary marriages that are practised in some African or royal families,” they said.
They acknowlegded that due to the diversity in this country, it would be very difficult to draw up laws which regulate every existing cultural marriage. However, they have begun a process of creating a marriage policy which they hope will “lay a policy foundation for drafting a new single or omnibus legislation.”
Business Tech reported some of the key changes which will be instituted by the policy:
- The new Marriage Act will enable South Africans of different sexual orientation, religious and cultural persuasions to conclude legal marriages;
- The introduction of strict rules around the age of marriage (including the alignment of age of majority in the marriage legislation to the Children’s Act);
- It will align the marriage, matrimonial property and divorce legislation to address matrimonial property and intestate succession matters in the event of the marriage dissolution;
- It will allow for equitable treatment and respect for religious and customary beliefs in line with Section 15 of the Constitution.
- It will deal with the solemnisation and registration of marriages that involve foreign nationals;
- It will deal with the solemnisation and registration of customary marriages that involve non-citizens especially cross-border communities or citizens of our neighbouring countries.
The DHA said that the new policy is to be gazetted in the 2020/21 financial year, for the purpose of consultation from the public. Thereafter, it will be submitted to cabinet by the end of March 2021, in order to be approved.
Image: Unsplash
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The world recently celebrated Mother’s Day and former First Lady Hillary Clinton delighted Instagram followers with a very special picture.
Taken at her and former US president Bill Clinton’s daughter Chelsey’s 2010 wedding to Marc Mezvinsky, the stunning picture shows three generations with Hillary, her late mother Dorothy Howell Rodham and Chelsey. The picture was captioned “Happy Mother’s Day to these two mothers dearest to my heart. ”
The bride stole the limelight in her Vera Wang dress, while Hillary wore a magical pink ombré gown from Oscar de la Renta.
Image: Instagram