In her upcoming memoir, tennis legend
Billie Jean King reveals she secretly married her partner Ilana Kloss
in 2018.
According to PEOPLE
magazine, former New York City Mayor David Dinkins married the
couple in his apartment on Manhattan's Upper East Side on October 18,
2018.
King and Kloss, her former doubles
partner, have been together 42 years.
In her memoir, titled All In: An
Autobiography, King, 77, writes that only a handful of people
knew about the marriage, including Dinkins, his wife Joyce, and an
aide, who acted as a witness and wedding photographer, plus the City
Hall employee who processed their marriage license.
"Nobody threw rice or smashed
wedding cake in the other's face," King wrote. "One of the
brides wore jeans and a lovely red scarf and the other had on a black
shirt, a comfortable warm-up suit, and pearls – ha! – a personal
touch of glamour that Ilana still teases me about."
King said that while she felt “very
married” to Kloss, she changed her mind about marriage because she
wanted to show her trust in her partner.
“But I had a big problem with
trusting and it meant a lot to show my trust in Ilana,” King wrote.
“Years from now, I never want anyone to question how much I was
committed to you.”
Kloss, 65, explained: “So much of our
life has been public, keeping this private was something special we
could hold on to, just for us.”
All In: An Autobiography arrives
Tuesday, August 17.