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An Englishman was threatened with imprisonment under a 500-year law if he did so
“People thought we wouldn’t last long, but we’re more connected than ever.” We go 24/7 and we think there’s some magic in that, “said Clive Blondon. He’s been a frequent guest in the media for years, as his unusual love story turns 30, and in tough times like this one, when many relationships are falling apart, it’s good to look for positive examples.
In fact, Clive met Brenda, 12 years older than him, in 1977, when he married his daughter Irene. They had two children, but their relationship did not work out and they separated in 1985.
When she sees him for the first time, Brenda is not at all impressed with him, she doesn’t even like him. However, things changed radically after his divorce from Irene. She visits her mother-in-law’s house to see her two daughters. The two were nice to each other and in 1989 their relationship was derailed.
“One night he took me out for a drink and we finally kissed. Then we gradually fell in love and wanted to stay together,” recalls Brenda. Initially they meet secretly, although there is no obstacle and it is obvious, since they are both divorced. When the ex Brenda’s husband finds out what is going on, encourages her to stay with Clive if she is sure he is the best for her, and manages to convince her that this has nothing to do with Irene.
However, when the two mustered the courage to legalize their relationship in 1997 and applied to the Registrar’s Office in their hometown of Warrington, not only did they refuse, but the future groom was arrested. He spent around 7 hours at the police station, where he was told that under a 500-year law, marriage between them was impossible because they were related by marriage. He was warned that he could be sentenced to up to seven years in prison if he kept trying.
The two abandon their legal marriage plans, but live together. Brenda took advantage of a legislative loophole and changed her last name to Blondon.
In 2005, the idea of marriage was revived after the European Court of Human Rights ruled that old English law was contrary to human rights. The Strasbourg magistrates were approached by another couple with a similar problem, who, ironically, is also from Warrington. In her case, a woman wants to marry her ex-husband’s father.
And although the British government claimed that the old law protected family morals and protected parents and children from sexual competition, and the family’s younger heirs, from confusion and anxiety, it was ultimately repealed. It is estimated that the law no longer solves these problems, as couples who took this path live together anyway.
It took about two more years before Brenda and Clive were next to each other in 2007 at the city wedding hall. The irony is that it is exactly the same in which he married Irene 30 years earlier. Although this is a long-awaited moment, happiness is not complete. His relatives refuse to attend. Only distant cousins send them a greeting card.
Irene feels betrayed by her mother, even though she already has a new marriage. As their arguments continue, she even accuses Clive of violence during their relationship, which he and his mother deny. “Our families did not attend the wedding because they did not agree with it. But the only thing that mattered to us was being together and legally, ”said Brenda.
Clive still remembers how, when they heard the news on television that the law had been repealed, he knelt in front of her to ask her hand. They are both crying with joy right now. They think that after everything they have experienced, they deserve to do it for themselves.
After the wedding, they go on their honeymoon to Spain, where it turns out that the news of their extraordinary love has also arrived. The hotel waiter greets them with the words “Oh, we have stars.”
Brenda says that after going through all the wedding fuss, she suddenly became calmer and more confident, because she always felt like something was missing in their relationship before. According to her, Clive is a loving husband and treats her very well. He recently had to have a heart stent. After the operation, he literally became her caretaker. He did nothing to avoid being overwhelmed.
“Well, there are some bad habits. For example, he keeps biting his nails, which drives me crazy. We often joke about how much I didn’t like him when he started dating my daughter and became my son-in-law. The truth is that we can’t do without each other, although initially many people thought that our relationship would not last long, “Brenda told the Mirror.
They both admit that if they had to go back in time, they would do it again. The only thing that weighs on them is that Irene still cannot accept what happened. She continues to believe that Clive is to blame for all the fights in her family, and she cannot forgive him for it. According to her, his mother has changed so much since she was with him that he cannot recognize her.
Brenda claims that she has tried several times to mend her relationship, but that she has already given up because she wants to live her life in peace and enjoy the love that Clive gives her. “We often argue and I think I’ve always been a challenge to him, but it’s about reciprocity and trust,” he added.
Generally, the two avoid telling strangers how they met because most don’t believe this to be true. Neighbors and friends, however, share the joy of being together in these difficult times. For Clive, being able to spend the entire day alone for a long time and still understand each other is proof that he made the right decision by marrying his mother-in-law.
A Nigerian court annulled a 3-year marriage because of a father-in-law
A Nigerian court has allowed a woman to divorce due to her father-in-law’s interference in family relationships. In her request for the dissolution of the three-year marriage, Ibukun Amosun stated that her husband’s father, Babatunde, had “poisoned” her mind.
Before getting married, she had a good job and they agreed to keep doing it. However, her parents insisted that she stay home, as is the case with Nigerian women, and start having children.
“I did not agree and convinced him to allow me to continue working. “Every time I visited them, it renewed the pressure on me until one day the lock changed and I couldn’t get out,” Ibukun explained in court.
Her father-in-law appears in place of her husband during the divorce proceedings. She claims that she never told her son to lock her up, but admits that it was difficult dealing with her because she refused to get pregnant until she completed the National Youth Corps program. She also refused to wear the clothes of a married woman and her mother constantly supported her in her disobedience.
Ibukun’s mother also testified in court. She says the father-in-law should have allowed the young men to resolve their disagreements on their own and not interfere in their affairs.
In its reasons for the dissolution of the marriage, the court stated that it was doing so in the interests of peace and recommended that both parties avoid any action that might lead to a confrontation.
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