When Rosemary Taylor became a marriage celebrant, she never expected to marry Bob Hawke's stepson to her niece.
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He wasn't even in the picture yet.
But just a few days ago the White Hills celebrant did just that, with Mr Hawke beaming from the audience. It was days before he died.
Mrs Taylor officiated at the wedding of her niece Brianna Roberts and Louis Pratt, Mr Hawke's stepson on May 11.
She remembered there was a feeling in the air at the ceremony.
Mr Hawke was clearly delighted to be there, but it was also clear he was fading, Mrs Taylor said.
The family believed he had held onto life for the wedding of his beloved stepson, the son of his second wife Blanche d'Alpuget, or perhaps the federal election.
The wedding took place in the blue mountains, on a cold autumn day.
Mr Hawke did not make it to the reception, but his face was beaming during the ceremony.
"He'd been hanging on, just hanging on for this wedding. He kept saying, 'I've got to make this wedding'," Mrs Taylor said.
"He was just beaming, he was so thrilled to be there. It was lovely."
Mr Hawke died just five days later, on May 16.
The couple - Ms Roberts and Mr Pratt - had been together about two years, Mrs Taylor said.
Tales tell the couple met in a nightclub, where Mr Pratt slipped a business card into Ms Roberts' bag. She didn't find it, but as a journalist, she managed to track him down anyway.
"It's just a match made in heaven. They're just both absolutely madly besotted with one and other," Mrs Taylor said.
"Bob, he's a hopeless romantic himself, he was just delighted. He would have liked them to get married probably a year ago.
"It was beautiful, she was a ... stunning bride. It was a very, very pretty wedding and we were fortunate with the weather. The sun came out and it was quite pleasant."
The connection with Mr Hawke was a surprising one for the family.
Mrs Taylor's daughter Bec Pata recalls going to her cousin's engagement party.
"It was funny when we went to his house last year. It was just like going to my cousin's engagement party, but it was at Bob Hawke's house," Mrs Pata said.
The son of his second wife, Mr Pratt was like a son to Mr Hawke, Mrs Taylor said. And Mr Hawke by all accounts was pleased with his stepson's choice of wife.
"At the engagement party he got up and spoke about her, about both. He just thought she was amazing," Mrs Pata said.
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