Multi-millionaire graffiti artist Banksy married his longtime partner in a neon-lit Las Vegas chapel which cost just $145, The Post can reveal.
The notoriously elusive artist — born Robin Gunningham in the UK — wed Joy Millward in January 2006 at Chapel of the Bells according to the wedding certificate, the first proof of the couple’s marriage, obtained by The Post.
Chapel of the Bells is a quirky place where people can wed dressed as Elvis or Marilyn Monroe or an Egyptian Pharaoh and walk-ins “are welcomed.” Located on the north side of the city’s famous strip, it has been uniting couples in matrimony since 1957.
A staff member who worked at the chapel in 2006 told The Post that Banksy, now worth an estimated $26 million, and Millward most likely arrived alone as they used the in-house witness, Mary E. Block.
“In 2006 we were doing about 40 to 70 weddings a week, so memories are hazy,” said staffer, JR, who did not remember the couple.
Block has since retired and the reverend who married the couple has passed away.
JR said a standard ceremony then cost $145 and included the minister, background music and use of the chapel. For an extra $35, couples could add a cake. Wedding photos were also available — but in a very different format than today.
“We didn’t use digital cameras back then,” JR said.
“If couples ordered photos, we just gave them a roll of film from the back of a camera to take home and process for themselves.”
In-keeping with the modest Las Vegas ceremony, the couple both listed their address as a tiny 336-square-foot apartment on Old Street in East London — then considered the city’s hipster hub, according to their marriage certificate.
Property records show the apartment was purchased in January 2003 for £235,000 (about $313,000) and sold twenty years later for £440,000 (about $587,000), according to UK property site RightMove.
Banksy, 51, who has never come forward to confirm his identity, has been exposed by multiple news outlets as Bristol-born Gunningham. To make it harder to track him, he changed his name to David Jones, one of the most common names in the UK, around 2008.
Little is known about Millward, a political strategist who once worked as a researcher for UK member of parliament for the left-wing Labour Party, Austin Mitchell. She also set up Principle Affairs, a group lobbying for charities in the UK in 2006, but records show she stepped down as director of that company in 2020.
In 2006 Banksy’s recognition was rapidly growing. He held his first major US show “Barely Legal” in Los Angeles and his works started escalating in value.
His commercial high point was arguably reached in 2021 when his work “Love is in the Bin” a painting which was partially shredded moments after being sold for $1.5 million at auction three years earlier was sold for $25.4 million.
Chapel of the Bells has wed stars including television host Kelly Ripa and actor Mark Consuelos, comedy legend Leslie Nielsen and Hollywood icon Mickey Rooney, according to its website.
The chapel has also appeared in several Hollywood films, including “Honeymoon in Vegas,” “Indecent Proposal” and “Mars Attacks.”
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