A couple were left stunned when Sir Richard Branson crashed their Las Vegas wedding.
Malcolm and Jacqui King-MacKinnon expected an Elvis impersonator to perform the ceremony in the US city last week.
The couple, who work as crew for Virgin Atlantic and met while working on a flight in 1988, said they were “dumbfounded” when Sir Richard interrupted their wedding renewal.
READ MORE: Detectives storm Greater Manchester school and make arrest
Dressed in a red blazer, black shirt and matching sunglasses, the Virgin Atlantic founder walked into The Little White Wedding Chapel and told the lookalike: “Wait a minute, that’s my job.”
Sir Richard then led the ceremony himself at a surprise event organised by Virgin Atlantic as part of its 40th anniversary celebrations.
Malcolm and Jacqui, who live in Heswall, Wirral, first met on a flight from Gatwick Airport to Newark, New Jersey, in 1988.
After seeing Jacqui in the iconic red uniform, Malcolm offered to help her with her luggage. Forty years later, the couple is married and has two children.
Malcolm and Jacqui were in Vegas working on the airline’s new route between Manchester and Las Vegas, which launched earlier this month. Fellow Virgin Atlantic crew members and the company’s CEO, Shai Weiss, were in attendance at the ceremony.
Malcolm, who works as a flight service manager at Virgin Atlantic, said afterwards: “We had no idea the boss was going to turn up, I was completely stunned.
“My heart was pounding. There was a lot of emotion in the room, it was a beautiful moment.”
He added: “They call it love at first sight, but for us it was love at first sight. Today was incredible and it means so much to Jacqui, our daughters and me.
“Virgin Atlantic brought us together and gave us the opportunity to explore the world and create countless memories that we will cherish forever. We look forward to continuing the celebrations and many more years together, in the sky and beyond!”
Sir Richard Branson said: “Our incredible people are what make Virgin Atlantic so special – they are mavericks, pioneers, kind and fun. It was an honour to celebrate two of the people who have been with us since day one.
“Malcolm and Jacqui’s love story started at Virgin Atlantic, making them part of the family. They’re also proof that we’ve been bringing people together for the moments that matter for forty years – in a way that only Virgin Atlantic can. ”
Before Malcolm, from Troon in Scotland, joined Virgin Atlantic in 1984, he worked as a welder on oil platforms in the North Sea.
He recalled: “I remember coming out after a hard night shift and looking up and seeing this plane and thinking, ‘there must be more to life than this.
“I was making a lot of money, but it wasn’t me. I’ve always loved traveling, but I had no idea what I was going to do.”
He successfully applied for a position as an air steward with Virgin Atlantic, which had just launched from Gatwick Airport.
Malcolm says he was ‘a single boy running around having fun’ before meeting Jacqui in the staff car park at Gatwick Airport in April 1988.
When Malcolm saw Jacqui, the daughter of Tranmere Rovers legend John King, getting out of the plane in her Virgin Atlantic uniform, he offered to help her with her luggage.
“The rest is history,” said Malcolm, 64. “We had a few drinks that night and hit it off really well. In retrospect, it was love at first sight.”
They married in St Lucia in 2004 and now have two daughters together, Niamh, 20, and Freya, 18. After the birth of their daughters, childcare commitments meant they were unable to fly together until earlier this year, when they were given permission to fly together from their base at Manchester Airport to Barbados.
One of his career highlights includes Malcolm being the supervisor of a plane that flew dozens of hostages out of Jordan during the 1990 Gulf War.
“There was a lot of tension in the air,” he said. “It all had to happen quickly.
“It was in, out, close the deal quickly, then close the door and go. We were on the floor for 50 minutes.
“I saw soldiers holding them back until the deal was done. When the last hostage jumped on, I saw the fear on their faces.
“When the jet took off, I looked out the window and thought: there’s a jet. What’s going to happen here?
“We could have easily been blown out of the sky.”
Malcolm and Jacqui will enjoy a second honeymoon on a Virgin Voyages cruise later this year.