HONG KONG (Reuters) - One of Hong Kong's leading entertainment couples, actors Tony Leung and Carina Lau, were married in Bhutan in a Buddhist-inspired ceremony attended by the tiny kingdom's royalty, local media reported on Monday.


Leung is one of Hong Kong's biggest film stars on the international art-house circuit and a longtime collaborator of prize-winning Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai.

Leung and Lau married in the reclusive Himalayan kingdom, known for its breathtaking, pristine natural scenery, on Monday at the exclusive Uma Paro resort.

Newspapers and websites carried photographs of Leung and Lau, who have been together for many years, posing before a congregation of monks in red robes, Leung wearing a tuxedo and Lau in a white gown.

Bhutan royalty reportedly attended the ceremony along with 100 guests, including Canto-pop diva and actress Faye Wong.

"Thank you everyone for making such a long trip to attend our wedding. I believe it is destiny that gathers us together here," Lau was quoted by the South China Morning Post as saying.

Leung, 46, is known for his cool, understated acting style in a raft of films by Wong.

These include his depiction of a gay lover in "Happy Together" and as a cuckolded husband in "In the Mood for Love," a role that landed him the Palme d'Or for best actor at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival.

Leung and Lau, 43, appeared together in the Wong films "Days of Being Wild" and "Ashes of Time"

Lau said she had chosen Bhutan for her nuptials after a spiritually uplifting visit to the snow-capped Himalayan kingdom.

"I felt the peace the moment I arrived in Bhutan ... I could understand that people here are happy not because of their material life, but because of their satisfaction on a spiritual level," Lau was quoted in the paper as saying.

Reuters/Nielsen
© Copyright 2008 Reuters.

Photo:
Hong Kong actors Tony Leung and Carina Lau smile during their wedding ceremony in the Kingdom of Bhutan July 21, 2008. REUTERS/Handout