RICHARD Gere proved to be the inspiration when a Leighton man dressed up as a naval officer to show he was the perfect gentleman by proposing to his girlfriend
In a well planned-surprise, James Maynard transformed into the character Zack Mayo from Gere’s hit film An Officer And A Gentleman and swept Claire Sutton off her feet.
Romantic 38-year-old James, of Newton Way, hired the costume after a chance hint from Claire that a man in uniform asking her to marry him would be her dream proposal.
James had kept his plan under his hat for a few months and then when the time was right went to Backstage fancy dress shop in Hemel Hempstead and quizzed owner Martyn Secunda for the best outfit to make his move with.
With the costume sorted, James let postie Claire, 33, leave for work at Hemel sorting office early last Thursday morning totally unaware that he wasn’t far behind her in his officer’s whites ready to pop the question.
>> For the full story see the February 8 issue of the Leighton Buzzard Observer. On sale now.