De Burgh’s tips for ladies who wed

The man who inflicted ‘Lady in Red’ on the world is now doling out marriage advice.

The singer with the self-professed healing hands, Chris de Burgh, has blamed the high rate of divorce for causing marriage to fall out of fashion in Ireland.

And in what looks like a staggering lack of self-awareness, de Burgh — who had an affair with his children’s teenage nanny while his wife was in hospital with a broken back — is offering tips on how to have a long, happy marriage.

The king of the romantic ballad joked that the secret to his 34-year marriage to wife Diane was his hectic touring schedule.

Diane stood by de Burgh, who wrote ‘Lady in Red’ about his first sighting of her, when it emerged he cheated on her.

She also stood by him when he released an album and song entitled Blonde Hair, Blue Jeans the same year he had an affair with the family’s blonde nanny.

Ironically, the father of three said he believed children learned their attitude to marriage from parents.

“I think times have changed and we learn from what our parents have done. With so many marriages breaking up, it’s very difficult to say to a child from a broken home that they’ve got to wait and get married.”

The 62-year-old millionaire joked on ITV’s Loose Women yesterday that, in his case, his long absences on worldwide tours have been good for his marriage.

His eldest daughter Rosanna Davison recently hit the headlines which she posed naked for Playboy, but her dad was one of her staunchest defenders.

The singer, who has just released a new acoustic album called Home, took to his Facebook page after his daughter’s topless magazine cover to reveal his pride in the beauty queen.

He said: “There is a strong smell of hypocrisy about those who criticise my daughter for appearing in Playboy.

“It is such a pity some people are unable to celebrate success, instead becoming lost in the pit of begrudgery, jealousy, and negativity.

“Consider these names: Bo Derek, Cindy Crawford, Darryl Hannah, Elle Macpherson, Lizzy Jagger, Marilyn Monroe, Sharon Stone, Rachel Hunter, Naomi Campbell... all have graced the pages of Playboy.”