Who is Shane MacGowan’s wife Victoria?
SHANE MACGOWAN had his wife Victoria Mary Clarke by his side throughout his many health issues.
The Fairytale Of New York singer sadly passed away just days after the couple celebrated their five year wedding anniversary, having dated for 32 years before tying the knot.
Who is Victoria Mary Clarke?
Victoria Mary Clarke is a journalist and writer from Ireland.
She was born on January 11, 1966, in Dublin.
Victoria has written for various newspapers and magazines in the UK and Ireland throughout her career.
Before his death she lived in Dublin with husband .
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There, she teaches workshops for people who want to learn how to channel their own angel guidance.
She writes on her website: "I channel angel guidance for myself any time that I am not happy with a situation in my life, and for other people when they are not happy with a situation in their lives."
Victoria says she first made contact with angels while struggling to overcome depression.
In 2007 she wrote a book, called Angel In Disguise, about her conversations with the angels who helped her through her hard times.
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When did Victoria marry Shane MacGowan?
Late Pogues singer Shane first met Victoria when she was just 16 years old and he was 24.
The pair didn't begin a relationship until four years later, but the writer has previously said how she quickly became infatuated with him.
Victoria wrote in the : "Shane was unmissable, tall, pale and skinny, with jug ears and missing teeth. I was awe-struck by him.
"I became consumed by the thought of him.
"He says that he felt the same way, that we were destined to be together."
It was a long courtship for the couple as they didn't get engaged until 2007 and were not married for another 11 years after that.
The pair finally tied the knot on November 26, 2018, at Copenhagen City Hall with Shane's longtime friend, Johnny Depp, playing the guitar during the ceremony.
In January 2009, Victoria opened up about how she craved physical affection from men in her teens and that Shane gave her a "sense of purpose".
Writing in , she said: "Once we were together, I felt my own life becoming subsumed by his.
"This was a welcome feeling for me, as I preferred to live someone else's life.
"I took immediate responsibility for his moods and problems and devoted myself to solving them and to being his personal assistant as well as his lover.
"I worshipped him in every possible way.
She continued: "In return, I felt that he gave me a sense of purpose, as well as a sense of being wanted. I belonged to him in a way that I had never really belonged to my family."
Shane passed away on November 30, 2023, after an eight year health battle.
The singer had been diagnosed with viral encephalitis, a serious condition which leads to brain swelling, and had been undergoing treatment prior to his death.
He had been in a wheelchair since 2015 after falling and fracturing his pelvis when leaving a Dublin studio and had been admitted to hospital several times in the years before he passed away.
Shane's wife Victoria shared a heartbreaking statement announcing the death of the star, who she called "the love of my life".
Her statement read: "I don't know how to say this so I am just going to say it.
"Shane who will always be the light that I hold before me and the measure of my dreams and the love of my life and the most beautiful soul and beautiful angel and the sun and the moon and the start and end of everything that I hold dear has gone to be with Jesus and Mary and his beautiful mother Therese.
"I am blessed beyond words to have met him and to have loved him and to have been so endlessly and unconditionally loved by him and to have had so many years of life and love and joy and fun and laughter and so many adventures."
Victoria also thanked Shane for the time they spent together and the "joy" he brought to the rest of world, adding: "There's no way to describe the loss that I am feeling and the longing for just one more of his smiles that lit up my world."
Do they have any children?
Shane and Victoria did not welcome any children during their relationship.
In April 2022, Victoria revealed the reason the pair never became parents was that they were too irresponsible.
She also mentioned that she was always worried about her musician husband's health as he suffered physically from years of binge drinking.
At the age of five, Shane's family would reportedly give him Guinness to help him sleep, and his father frequently took him to the local pub while he drank with his friends.
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In 2016, Victoria announced that Shane was sober for the "first time in several years".
According to Clarke, the musician's sobriety began after a prolonged hospital stay due to pneumonia and a hip injury, and he continued to stay clean when he returned home.