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Trouble & strife

Who is Charles Bronson’s ex-wife Irene Dunroe?

CHARLES Bronson is the most well-known inmate in His Majesty's Prison Service (HMPS).

Tom Hardy brought the character to life in the biographical film released about Bronson's life but little was said about the women that had graced it.

 Dunroe appeared on This Morning to discuss her relationship with Bronson
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Dunroe appeared on This Morning to discuss her relationship with Bronson

Who is Irene Dunroe?

Irene Dunroe is known for being the first wife of notorious prisoner Charles Bronson.

The couple got together when they were just 19 years old.

Unlike the lag's other two wives, Irene was with the offender when he was still Michael Peterson.

Still to this day, she refers to him as "Mick" as she says he was never Charles Bronson when she was with him and will never see him as anything other than Michael Peterson.

When did Irene Dunroe marry Charles Bronson?

Irene says that he stood out from the crowd when she met him, wearing tailored suits with a perfectly groomed appearance along with his distinctive cockney accent.

They went on to marry in 1972, when she was four months pregnant with his child.

Bronson was working as an industrial painter when the pair met.

Later that same year, they had their son, Michael Jonathan Peterson.

 

Dunroe never knew of any of his criminal exploits, with him often disappearing for days on end or simply leaving her house at all hours to "go for a pint".

Their relationship took a blow when Charles was jailed for seven years in 1974 for armed robbery.

His wife continued to visit him for a couple of years during his prison sentence.

Despite this, the pair divorced in 1977.

How many times has Charles Bronson been married?

Bronson has been married three times in total.

Irene was the first wife of the renowned prisoner.

In 2001, Bronson married Fatema Saira Rehman in HMP Woodhill.

Rehman says she fell for him when she saw his picture in a newspaper in December 1998.

Their relationship started by letter but then escalated to prison visits.

After only three months and ten prison visits, the pair were to tie the knot.

During this time, he briefly converted to Islam and changed his name to "Charles Ali Ahmed".

The pair divorced four years after tying the knot.

Bronson then starting having visits from former Coronation Street extra Paula Williamson.

In 2017, the pair married in a somewhat bizarre ceremony in prison.

Williamson was driven to the prison by a Bronson lookalike before being covered with a blanket and taken into the prison for her wedding ceremony.

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.

The couple were granted permission to wed in a service that took place on November 14.

Charles was handcuffed to a warder for the strictly controlled two-hour ceremony witnessed by just five guests.

After the wedding, Paula said she hoped they would be reunited in four or five years on the outside as the prisoner lodged a number of appeals against his sentence.

Eventually, in 2019, she applied for the marriage to be annulled as it had not been consummated at all.

She went on to say how she had lost a lot of work, along with family and friends, since marrying Britain's most notorious inmate.

Paula was found dead at her home on July 29, 2019.

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