Martin Luther King Jr’s son shares photo from parents’ wedding 67 years ago

Martin Luther King III states that his parents spent their wedding night at a funeral home after hotels refused them entry

(AFP via Getty Images)

Martin Luther King Jr’s son has shared a photograph from his parents’ wedding to mark what would have been their 67th anniversary.

The late civil rights leaders wed on 18 June 1953 in a ceremony officiated by the groom’s father, pastor Martin Luther King Sr.

The couple had been married for just under 15 years when King was assassinated in 1968.

In commemoration of what would have been his parents’ 67th wedding anniversary, their eldest son Martin Luther King III shared a photograph on social media, from the day of their nuptials.

In the image, the groom is wearing a white suit while the bride, Coretta Scott King, is wearing an ornate, lace gown.

In the caption, Martin Luther King III said that his parents were denied entry to a hotel after the ceremony.

“Today would have been my mother and father’s 67th wedding anniversary!” the human rights advocate wrote.

“On their wedding day, after the ceremony, they had trouble finding a hotel that would allow them to stay the night. Not because hotels in Marion, Alabama, were fully booked, but because the Jim Crow south refused them entry, simply because of their skin colour.”

The 62-year-old explained that as the couple were “left with few options”, they ended up “spending the night at a funeral home”.

Several Twitter and Instagram users expressed that they had never heard the story of the Kings having to spend their wedding night at a funeral home.

“They are beautiful and even though that story is heartbreaking, I continue to be inspired by the resiliency of black people throughout history up to present day,” one person commented.

“Beautiful strong couple, who persevered from start to finish,” another said.

Martin Luther King Jr and Coretta Scott King had four children together.

Their first child, Yolanda King, died in 2007, a year after Coretta Scott King passed away at the age of 78.