Cliff Richard's surprising connection to an Essex town

Cliff Richard is a household name - one that millions around the world can recognise instantly. Rising to fame as a singer in the late 1950s, Sir Cliff became an international star, and went on to sell more than 250 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time.

But, soon after his meteoric rise to fame and fortune, Sir Cliff visited the Essex area of Waltham Abbey, to mark a very special occasion. He was the best man at his sister Donella's wedding, held at the Abbey Church in 1961.

According to David Winfield in his memoir of growing up in Waltham Abbey, he remembers meeting a friend's cousin, whose name was Harry Webb. David wrote: "He was sixteen, just over a year older than me, was well built and a good swimmer, I liked him. We got on well and we had a great afternoon together.

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"I never met him again so never got to know him. I wished I had, for just two years later he would change his name to ‘Cliff Richard’."

David said Sir Cliff only came back to Waltham Abbey once more, and it certainly made a stir in the Essex town. He was best man at his sister Donella's wedding to Paul Stevens at the Abbey Church in Waltham Abbey.

David said: "The wedding came as a complete surprise to my friends and I on several counts. Paul came from Denney Avenue. How could he have met, courted and now marry a pop star’s sister?"

Donella, aged 18 at the time of her marriage, wed Paul on August 5, 1961. The wedding was lavish, but crowds flocked to the church not to see her or her new husband, but to see her brother.

According to reports, Donella was mobbed by fans and fainted before the wedding, causing the ceremony to be delayed by 15 minutes. David said: "The area outside the Church was packed with screaming girls, who pressed forward to catch a glimpse of the biggest star they had ever seen."

Sadly, Donella and Paul's marriage didn't last, and they divorced several years later with no children.
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