KEY POINTS:
Rod Stewart married Penny Lancaster this morning (NZ time) in a low-key ceremony on Italy's Ligurian coast.
Stewart, 62, and Lancaster, 36, have been together since the break-up of Stewart's second marriage in 1998 and tied the knot in a civil ceremony in a villa with only Lancaster's parents as witnesses.
"It was just a family thing," one of Stewart's bodyguards told Reuters.
Model Lancaster was dressed in a short, white satin dress and white high-heeled shoes. She arrived at the ceremony some 20 minutes before the groom, who donned blue pin-striped trousers and a white jacket.
After the wedding the couple walked from the villa to a nearby restaurant to see their 19-month-old son, Alastair.
From there they strolled on to the harbour where they posed for photographs in a small boat before sailing to Stewart's luxury yacht "The Lady Ann Magee".
The 50-metre (164-foot) yacht is listed on the internet for rent at 170,000 euros (115,200 pounds) a week.
The couple let their hair down at a pre-wedding family party on Friday evening, emerging from an exclusive hotel singing pub songs.
- REUTERS
