17 December 2023 , 23:18
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Celine Dion and her tragic husband René Angélil would have celebrated their 29th wedding anniversary today.
The Think Twice singer, 55, wed the record producer in a lavish ceremony on December 17 1994. Such was the interest in the Canadian music stars' relationship that the wedding was broadcast on Canadian television.
Celine first met Rene, who was 26 years her senior when she was just 12 years old. Encouraged by her thirteen siblings, she sent him a demo of herself singing and he immediately took her under his wing as his musical protege. In 1997, when she was 19, their relationship became public knowledge. They got engaged, with her family's approval, in 1991.
Their wedding was incredibly extravagant, and was held at Notre-Dame Basilica in Montreal. Celine wore a huge dress designed by Mirella and Steve Gentile which featured a 6-meter-long train adorned with lace and crystals. It was estimated to have taken 1000 hours of needlework to attach them all. The OTT-ness didn't end there, and Celine glided down the aisle wearing a 3kg crown sparkling with over 2,000 Swarovski crystals.
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Celine Dion wed Rene in a huge televised ceremony in 1994 (Sygma via Getty Images)
It's unlikely that Celine will ever perform again since being diagnosed with Stiff Person Syndrome (Getty Images)The couple went on to have three children, René-Charles, who was born in 2001, followed by twins Eddy and Nelson in 2010. Tragically for the family, René died in 2016 aged 73 after being diagnosed with throat cancer.
In 2019, Celine told Steve Wright on BBC Radio 2, that her husband had been the true love of her life, and she had never been with anyone else. She said: “He’s the only man that I’ve ever kissed in my life. He’s my only boyfriend that I’ve had. And it was the best. I was very, very lucky. I feel I have been fulfilled with so much of his love that I could carry on alone with my children for the rest of my life.”
She added that had he not been her manager, she didn't think that their marriage would have lasted. She added: “If he had only been my husband, I was working so much I was not going to see him and vice versa. We always worked 50/50. When he passed he gave me the rest of his strength, the other 50. And it came up with wings - he lifted me up. I feel him every day."
René's passing was quickly followed by the death of one of Celine's multiple siblings. Her brother Daniel died just two days later. He similarly had been battling cancer for several years and died at a palliative care center in Terrebonne, Quebec, outside Montreal.
Fans are still waiting to see if Celine will be performing and singing to them any time soon. She cancelled her North American tour earlier this year due to struggles with the syndrome.