Starr and Bach were married at a Marylebone register office and celebrated afterwards at London club 'Rags'. The wedding party (seen from left to right at the reception) George and Olivia Harrison, Ringo Starr, Barbara Bach and her son Gianni, Paul and Linda McCartney with their son James. Starr met his second wife when co-starring with her in Caveman (1981). Bach is shown wearing a dress designed by David and Elizabeth Emanuel.

Events of 1981 back to top

Current affairs

Art and science

International

Prince Charles marries Lady Diana Spencer at St Paul's Cathedral. A crowd of 600,000 spectators filled the streets to catch a glimpse of the Royal couple, and 750 million viewers watched the event on television. The iconic moment came when Charles and Diana appeased the crowds by breaking royal protocol and kissing on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.Andrew Lloyd-Webber's musical, based on T. S. Eliot's, opens in the West End. The show ran for 21 years., the 1945 novel by Evelyn Waugh, is adapted for television by John Mortimer. The lavish production featured an all-star cast of Jeremy Irons, Anthony Andrews, Laurence Olivier, Claire Bloom and John Gielgud, setting the bar high for future TV costume dramas.Pope John Paul II is shot by a Turkish gunman in St Peter's Square in Rome. John Paul was rushed to hospital where he recovered, and Mehmet Ali Agca was caught and sentenced to life imprisonment.HIV AIDS is identified in five men in Los Angeles.