Rocker Rod Stewart weds in quiet Italian ceremony

SANTA MARGHERITA LIGURE, Italy, June 16 (Reuters) British rock star Rod Stewart married Penny Lancaster today in a low-key ceremony on Italy's Ligurian coast.

Stewart, 62, and Lancaster, 36, have been together since the break-up of Stewart's second marriage in 1998 and tied the knot in a civil ceremony in a villa with only Lancaster's parents as witnesses.

''It was just a family thing,'' one of Stewart's bodyguards told Reuters.

Model Lancaster was dressed in a short, white satin dress and white high-heeled shoes. She arrived at the ceremony some 20 minutes before the groom, who donned blue pin-striped trousers and a white jacket.

After the wedding the couple walked from the villa to a nearby restaurant to see their 19-month-old son, Alastair.

From there they strolled on to the harbour where they posed for photographs in a small boat before sailing to Stewart's luxury yacht ''The Lady Ann Magee''.

The 50-metre (164-foot) yacht is listed on the internet for rent at 170,000 euros (226,000 dollars) a week.

The couple let their hair down at a pre-wedding family party on Friday evening, emerging from an exclusive hotel singing pub songs.

REUTERS GT MIR RAI2234