Shortly after the loss of his daughter Peaches, Bob Geldof decided to do something that had been on his mind for a while. The pop star philanthropist proposed to longterm partner Jeanne Marine, who has been his rock through the devastating grief. Bob asked a friend to help him with the engagement which he'd planned for the day she turned 49.
© Photo: RexThe couple celebrated their wedding with a party on the French Riviera
Speaking to RTE Radio One the Irish said: "I asked a great friend of ours to host a dinner for Jeanne's birthday. I got the ring, which resembled the planet Mars in its girth and size.
"I got up to thank her for the dinner and went on to say that I couldn't have survived – and the children couldn't have survived – without Jeanne.
"All the women started blubbering and I dropped to one knee. She grabbed the ring and I grabbed it back and said, 'No, you have to answer me first before you get it.' She said yes."
© Photo: Getty ImagesBob and Jeanne with Richard E Grant days before Peaches' tragic death
Bob was worried that the proposal would seem "inappropriate" coming the day after Peaches' funeral on 21 April, 2014. She had died aged 25 from a heroin overdose, leaving behind husband Thomas Cohen and two little boys.
Her father realised proposing to his partner of two decades would give his other daughters Fifi, Pixie and Tiger Lily some relief to focus on a happy event.
"I had planned to ask Jeanne to marry me. And then, because of Peaches, I thought it would be entirely inappropriate. But then we buried her and the next day I decided to let some air into the room.
We were suffocating with grief and we needed air in the room. We needed light in that air."
© Photo: RexBob has three other daughters, Fifi, 32, Pixie, 25, (pictured here) and Tiger Lily, 19
The couple had a small civil ceremony on her 50th birthday followed five months later by a relaxed, bohemian beach celebration. Guests toasting their relationship at the wedding party in the South of France, included Sarah, Duchess of York, Jerry Hall, Richard Branson and Demi Moore.
Jeanne, an actress who has appeared in films such as Braveheart, wore an exquisite white off-the-shoulder gown.
The luminous French beauty met Bob after his marriage to the girls' mother Paula Yates crumbled in 1996.
Of falling in love with him, she has said: "I liked his elegance and his Irishness. Bob is exactly the kind of man I've always been waiting for. He's compassionate, charming, intelligent and, on top of that, good-looking. He's the most handsome man in the world and I adore him."
