Hugh Bonneville of ‘Downton Abbey’ renews vows at Las Vegas Strip wedding chapel
It wasn’t quite a scene from the British historical hit DOWNTON ABBEY, but it still had a prestigious and genteel air to it that called for a spot of afternoon tea rather than the bubbly and even with an Elvis lookalike playing a role. Hip, hip hooray!
British actor Hugh Bonneville, who played Robert Crawley, the Earl of Grantham, on the top-rated show from 2010 to 2015, is on vacation in Las Vegas this week and Tuesday decided to renew his marriage vows at the world-famous Graceland Wedding Chapel.
Hugh had his hotel car take him to the chapel, where staff recognized him as Lord Grantham when he walked through the door. Hugh, who starred with Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant in 1999’s NOTTING HILL, was married to artist-wife Lulu Williams in 1998, and they decided that their Las Vegas getaway was the perfect place to renew their wedding vows.
Graceland Wedding Chapel is almost as old as Downton Abbey itself, having stood in the same spot on the Strip for more than 50 years. The chapel has hosted the marriages of celebrities including Jon Bon Jovi, Billy Ray Cyrus and Aaron Neville.
Just before I left for Italy, I was there to serve as a witness for Fox News senior correspondent Rick Leventhal’s wedding to poker princess Beth Shak.
Elvis Presley lookalike Travis Allen conducted the Elvis vows. I was told that the ceremony was “very low key” and that Hugh and Lulu were “casually dressed but very English throughout the ceremony and charming with all the staff.”