When did Paula Williamson marry Charles Bronson and why did they get divorced?
PAULA Williamson married and divorced notorious lag Charles Bronson before her untimely death - and was penning a tell-all book but never got to finish it.
Despite the fact the 65-year-old is still serving time, he was granted permission to marry his actress girlfriend Paula Williamson - here's lowdown on their strange relationship.
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How did Paula Williamson meet Charles Bronson?
Paula is known for working on the cast of Coronation Street but also appears to have a passion for writing to high profile prisoners.
Before she started her relationship with Charles Bronson, she exchanged a series of letters and gifts with killer paedophile Ian Brady.
Paula is said to have grown close to the notorious armed robber in the same way.
The pair began exchanging letters before apparently falling in love with one another.
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How did Charles Bronson propose to Paula?
Details emerged of how Bronson wooed Williamson with a rendition of Frank Sinatra's My Way as he serenaded her down the phone on Valentine's Day 2017.
Paula accepted the white gold and diamond ring and said that Bronson had phoned her in advance to ask for her ring size.
Speaking on Good Morning Britain, Paula was asked if the engagement was a publicity stunt and said: "I do know Charlie and this is the real deal."
"I'm very excited to be his fiance because I'm in love with the man and that's God's honest truth."
When did Charles Bronson and Paula Williamson get married?
The couple planned to tie the knot on Paula's birthday in August – but the date was pushed back as they had to wait for confirmation from the authorities.
The couple were granted permission to wed in a service that took place on November 14, 2017.
Former Corrie actress Paula Williamson was bundled into Wakefield jail under a purple cloak after a bizarre procession through the town led by a Bronson lookalike and a woman on a mobility scooter.
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Britain’s most violent prisoner, 66, — who has spent the past 42 years in prison — was handcuffed to a warder for the strictly controlled two-hour ceremony witnessed by just five guests.
The bizarre guest list included former gangland figure Dave Courtney, retired prison guard Mick O'Hagan and MMA fighter and Katie Price's ex Alex Reid.
Alex wrote on Facebook the night of the wedding: "Back to my room at Charlie's and Paulita Salvador's wedding I've been so privileged. Finally been allowed to let people know."
Where did they hold the ceremony?
The pair held their wedding inside HMP Wakefield.
A reception was held at a local hotel, but Paula will be heading to Malta without her new husband as he was led back to his cell after the ceremony.
Paula emerged from the prison under a ghostly white shroud on top of her purple cloak, ensuring her dress was almost completely hidden from view.
She was then smuggled into the York House Hotel through a side door to continue the celebrations with friends and family - who had their phones confiscated as she has reportedly sold picture rights to a newspaper.
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When did Charles and Paula get divorced?
It seemed there were problems in the marriage after just six months with Paula admitting their relationship was "on the rocks after Bronson made a series of demands about her weight.
Britain’s most notorious lag reportedly instructed the actress to do 400 sit-ups a day after ordering her “don't get fat”.
Bronson vowed to divorce the ex-Corrie actress, eight months after their wedding behind bars.
He went berserk when he saw pictures showing Paula on a wild night out in Tenerife letting a lad bury his head in her breasts.
MORE ON BRONSON
Violent con Bronson, 66, divorced Paula last year from behind bars.
Paula was found dead just hours after lifetime con Bronson announced he was marrying again.
Bronson was said to be "shocked and upset" after Paula Williamson was discovered at an address in Sneyd Green, Stoke in July 2019.
Bronson now serving his life sentence in Woodhill jail in Milton Keynes, but is said to want special dispensation to say farewell to the late Coronation Street star.
Was she writing a book?
In the haunting first few pages of her book - seen by The Sun - she wrote: "Why a reveal all expose book?
"Well, for a start, it was Charlie that initially came up with the idea, and furthermore honoured it by writing the book's foreword.
"Despite being thirty-two years my senior and having spent forty-three years in prison this man seemed to understand the core of me.
"He allowed me to share my innermost thoughts freely with him without fear of embarrassment.
"This, in turn, opened the door and let free my dark sense of self-deprecating humour, allowing it to flow out onto the paper of which I wrote to him."
She tells of her repeated battles with mental health - including Borderline Personality Disorder and bipolar - and reveals her split from Bronson last July was "shocking" and "explosive".
She adds: "When I fall for someone I fall deep, no one else exists in that sense. I get utterly devoted, despite being an outrageous flirt.
"Why then do I feel forever harassed, and tortured by everyone else’s opinions of me, when, as my Mother correctly informs me: ‘Listen girl, the only opinion that actually counts for anything is mine, and your Fathers.’
"Even though my parents haven’t always been behind me on my journey into what has been an extreme and at times catastrophic lust-for-life, they were always there to catch me if I fell."
Charles Bronson’s bride Paula Williamson arrives at Wakefield jail under a purple cloak for wedding
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