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Sir Alan Bates gets married on Richard Branson's island

Mar Javierto Sir Alan Bates smiles with his wife Lady Suzanne Sercombe Mar Javierto
Sir Alan Bates married his partner Lady Suzanne Sercombe on Necker Island

Post Office campaigner Sir Alan Bates has married his long-term partner on Sir Richard Branson's private island in the Caribbean.

The 70-year-old tied the knot with Suzanne Sercombe on Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands last month, the Sunday Times reported.

The pair have been together for 34 years but had never married.

Sir Alan was thrust into the limelight after an ITV drama highlighted how he led a campaign on behalf of sub-postmasters wrongly prosecuted for stealing.

The Times reported the wedding was a surprise to the new Lady Bates, 69, who wore a sun dress she packed for the holiday.

“It just seemed a good idea being on Necker and it being a wonderful place," Mr Bates told the paper.

Sir Richard reportedly invited the couple to the island after Sir Alan said in a January interview with the Times: "If Richard Branson is reading this, I’d love a holiday.”

The Virgin tycoon, who officiated the ceremony and made a speech, told the Sunday Times: “It was an absolute joy to play a small part in Alan and Suzanne’s love story, and I know they will continue to spread the beautiful light they share with everyone around them.”

Necker Island is one of the most exclusive holiday destinations in the world, and has welcomed guests including Princess Diana, Nelson Mandela, the Obamas and Harry Styles

Christopher Head, a former sub-postmaster who was also a victim of the Post Office scandal, offered the couple his congratulations.

“Wonderful story in The Times,” he wrote on X. “I believe a huge congratulations are in order.”

Nick Wallis, a broadcast journalist and author of The Great Post Office Scandal, wrote on X: "Sir Alan Bates gets married on Richard Branson's island! By Richard Branson?! Funny how life turns out, isn't it?"

Mar Javierto Sir Alan Bates and Lady Suzanne Sercombe at their wedding ceremonyMar Javierto
Sir Alan and Suzanne live in Colwyn Bay, Conwy - also by the beach

Sir Alan and Suzanne had poured their life savings into their post office business, but he was sacked in 2003 after the faulty computer system showed money was appearing to go missing.

He was knighted this year in the King's Birthday honours for his over 20-year campaign for justice.

In July he was also awarded a honorary law doctorate by Bangor University.

More than 900 sub-postmasters were prosecuted by the Post Office and given criminal convictions between 1999 and 2015, as Fujitsu’s faulty Horizon IT system made it appear as though money was missing at their branches.

The Post Office Inquiry will resume on 23 September.