Woman marries for ninth time

Pat Higgins, 58, has just married for the ninth time, to a man 32 years her junior Elizabeth Taylor married eight times. Joan Collins has managed a fairly impressive five. But neither can beat serial bride Pat Higgins, who has walked down the aisle a staggering nine times.  The grandmother, 56, married 24 year-old toyboy Mark Sanderson, 32 years her junior, at a modest ceremony in North Shields,Tyne and Wear, on Saturday.  Pat - who has been branded 'black widow' and 'maneater' because of her past - wore an ivory gown with beaded bodice and matching shrug for her latest wedding.


Despite being married eight times previously - three of those times before her current husband was born - Pat still managed to put the wedding ring on the wrong finger.  Instead of placing it on her husband's left ring finger, she put it on the right.  The friend said: 'It was quite an emotional ceremony, although neither Pat or Mark cried.  'Pat got the wrong hand when she put Mark's ring on which was quite comical. She should know by now.

'There weren't too many people there, and it was painfully obvious that Mark's family didn't approve. Where Pat's side of the room was quite full, Mark's was very empty.'

Pat wore a sparkling tiara and delicately beaded veil for her nuptials, and kept her lip piercing in during the wedding.  Pat - who is older than her husband's mother, Jennifer - carried a cream bouquet studded with dark purple flowers which matched her bridesmaids' black and purple floor length dresses.

Just 20 guests were there to help Pat celebrate her latest wedding, which was followed by a reception at a Conservative Club in Tyne and Wear.

The 24-year-old groom's parents were notable by their absence, having reportedly refused to attend either the ceremony or reception.

Guests dressed in gothic style for the big day, with one bridesmaid sporting freshly dyed neon pink hair.  The best man wore his long, shaggy black hair down over his morning suit, with a purple cravat that matched the groom's.  Pat and her entourage arrived at North Shields Registry office in a vintage cream Beauford wedding car, embellished with purple ribbons.

But there was another false start for Pat when newly-wedded couple went to leave the ceremony and the car stalled causing an eruption of laughter from the crowd.
Pat seemed to be looking forward to her impending nuptials, and in the days leading up to her ninth walk down the aisle, wrote excitedly on her Facebook account: 'OMG! 58 hours, 37 mins and counting lol!'

Lovestruck Pat, who describes herself as a Christian on her Facebook page, who is studying a sociology and social politics degree through the Open University, has become notorious for her multiple marriages over the years, but she denies being a 'maneater', insisting this is her last walk up the aisle.

She said: 'People call me a maneater and a black widow which is silly.  I'm not a predator, I just like to be happy in life - what's wrong with that? I want to be with someone who treats me like I should be treated.  Most of my family are very supportive of me, although Mark's family are not happy.  I'm an eternal optimist and have thought every marriage was going to work. But this time I know it's going to last.

Pat met her newest husband 18 months ago at a rock club in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, where the pair live.  They shared their first kiss over a takeaway pizza after a night out and began a romance.  Mark proposed to Pat in September last year, to the dismay of his family.

'People might say he is too young but age has got nothing to do with love.
The longest of Pat's marriages lasted five years and the shortest just five days.  She spent £8,000 on her last wedding, only for it to fall apart after just eight weeks. But this time, Pat vows things will be different.

'When I walk down the aisle with my ninth husband I'll make a secret vow to myself, as well as to him.

'No more weddings, this time it has to last forever.'

From The Daily Mail