Saturday 18 September 2010

Das Freizeit-Magazin, 1978: The most secretive wedding of the year: Benny and Anni-Frid

During the ‘seven year itch’ they cut the knot: Anni-Frid and Benny, ABBA’s eternal love couple became a married couple. In all secrecy they got married on October 6 in the small church of Lidingö. Only Agnetha and Björn took part in the low-key ceremony. “If we had announced the date beforehand, pandemonium would have broken loose,” the usually so temperamental Anni-Frid explains, who – contrary to Agnetha – likes to have a whirl of excitement around her. “But thousands of fans taking the church by storm, that’s even too much for me.”
The couple has been engaged for exactly seven years. A period after which – for most couples – the critical phase begins. But for Anni-Frid and Benny – who are living in a beautiful mansion, together with the four children from their previous marriages – there hasn’t been one dull moment in those seven years.
“True, every now and then there have been fireworks. That’s unavoidable when you are together practically 24 hours a day,” Benny says pensively, “but we belong together. Since we have lived together happily for such a long time, nothing can tear us apart anymore. That’s why we decided to get married now. It’s better for the children as well.”
To make sure that Anni-Frid and Benny’s momentous day didn’t go by completely unnoticed, they threw a party the next day for their friends from the Swedish show business. Among the guests were rock singer Björn Skifs (Blue Swede) and manager Stig Anderson who wasn’t informed about this wedding until this moment. Good-natured he said: “You have nicely led me up the garden-path.”
Anni-Frid’s German father Alfred Haase reacted bitterly: “I had to read in the newspapers that my daughter had got married!”

No comments: