Tony Earnshaw: Weisz and Craig’s love story rewrites script for celebrity weddings

I was just one of the multitude who were genuinely surprised – shocked would be going too far – at the news that these two big-name stars had secretly wed in New York after a whirlwind romance. The four witnesses included his daughter and her son.

Well, I have to say: how on earth did they manage that? If half the White House’s secrets can end up on Wikileaks, how can a pair of thesps manage to keep their plans out of the hands of rapacious gossip- mongers? The answer is simple: they didn’t say anything to anyone they didn’t trust. Let’s be fair: if you want to keep your wedding out of Hello or OK magazine, don’t breathe a word to anyone from said publications, or anyone who might be tempted to make a few quid by selling the news on.

Then there’s the matter of celebrity couples who pay for their glitzy nuptials by allowing these magazines to trample all over the happy event. A million or so is exchanged and their bliss and happiness is plastered across 20-plus pages for all the world to witness.

Who cares? Not I. In fact I make a private wager with myself on how long they’re likely to stay together. A few months? A few years? Has she signed a pre-nup? Has he? So fair play to Dan and Rach for doing it their way.

The couple allegedly fell in love on the set of their new film Dream House and split last year from their respective partners: she from film director partner Darren (Black Swan) Aronofsky after nine years, and he from fiancée Satsuki Mitchell.

A Christmas get-together in Somerset got the tabloids bubbling, especially when Craig and Weisz ambled into the local hostelry and surprised the regulars with a very public display of tactile affection.

Okay, you say, so what? People fall in and out of love all the time. Well, the difference here is that these two seem to be desperate to keep a low profile.

They’re not shredding their relationship before it’s even built. Instead, they seem to be avoiding contact with anything that might even remotely affect their happiness.

People have a right to fall head-over-heels in love. Craig, 43, and Weisz, 41, are not kids. They’ve been around a bit and each has experienced life’s knocks. So let’s hope this is the real thing. Let’s hope it lasts. And if it doesn’t, let’s hope that they deal with the aftermath in the same way that they’ve dealt with the preamble: with dignity. It’s a rare commodity these days.