Alan Rickman and Rima Horton secret wedding: Die Hard star marries partner after 50 years

Congratulations are in order for Hollywood actor Alan Rickman who has revealed his secret wedding to long-time partner Rima Horton.

The 69-year-old Harry Potter star made the surprise announcement when quizzed about the secret to a successful relationship – even though he wasn't married – during an interview with Germany's Bild newspaper.

Setting the record straight, Rickman said: "We are married, just recently. It was great, because no one was there."

The couple met 50 years ago and have been living together since the mid 1970s.

Rickman went on to confirm that big day came and went without any celebrity fanfare. "After the wedding in New York we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and ate lunch," he added.

The actor, whose film credits include Die Hard, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Sense and Sensibility, previously gushed about his partner in an interview with Hello! magazine.

"I think every relationship should be allowed to have its own rules. She's tolerant. She's incredibly tolerant," he said of the economist and politician. "Unbelievably tolerant. Possibly a candidate for sainthood."

Earlier in April, news broke that Copacabana singer Barry Manilow had tied the knot with his manager and long-time partner Garry Kief in a secret wedding in 2014.

The 71-year-old singer is said to have surprised "20 to 30 guests" who though that they were attending a "lunch" at his home in Palm Springs, California, in April 2014.

People magazine reported that while Manilow and Kief, 66, did not sign any paperwork to make their marriage official, but both are said to be wearing wedding bands.

"[They] are committed to one another and have been for a very long time. They have a great relationship. Garry has always been there for Barry," an insider told the magazine.