Prince Harry and Boris Johnson are among guests pencilled in for the UK-leg of the $600m wedding for the son of Asia’s richest man. A host of A-list celebrities and politicians descended on Mumbai last weekend, as the Ambani-Merchant wedding reached its crescendo with three days of celebrations. From Kim Kardashian to Tony Blair, the great and the good from the world of showbiz and politics were drawn to the extravagant event, which will now turn its attention to the UK. The happy couple tied the knot on the weekend of July 12 but celebrations are expected to continue for months to come – with festivities resuming at the historic Stoke Park Country Club near Slough, The Sun reported. Some guests who attended the Mumbai wedding such Boris and Carrie Johnson, who were reportedly paid to attend, may make a second appearance at the hotel. The pair could be joined by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, who are rumoured to be among the UK guest list. Around 850 members of the Grade II listed golf club have been warned to steer clear as the family have block-booked the hotel until September for renovations ahead of the event. However, the Ambanis have reportedly clashed with the local council as questions with raised question as to whether the family was upholding the terms of the estate’s leasehold, according to the Financial Times. Boris and Carrie Johnson brought their children along to the wedding. The leasehold is clear the site must be used as a commercial property rather than a private one, making the move to close the hotel to the public while remaining open to the family a contentious one. Although the celebrations in the UK will likely spare little expense, it is unlikely to upstage the pair’s lavish Mumbai ceremony. The couple, Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant, are estimated to have spent an estimated $600 million on the events. Anant is the son of India’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, while Radhika is the heiress to a pharmaceutical dynasty. Their pre-wedding party consisted of a three-day celebration with a 1,200 person guest list including former world leaders, tech tycoons and a performance by Rihanna. Later, they embarked on European cruise with performances by Backstreet Boys and Katy Perry. The celebrations culminated with last weekend’s events, which saw the likes of Justin Bieber taking to the stage to perform at their traditional Sangeet night in Mumbai. The couple married in a traditional Hindu ceremony on the Friday. This was followed by a ‘shubh ashirwad’ on Saturday — a ceremony held for the couple to receive blessings from guests and elders, culminating in a ‘mangal utsav’, the reception. The weekend saw the Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, John Cena and Tony Blair, walk the red-carpet into the wedding venue. The Ambanis hired 100 private jets to fly guests in from around the world while every five-star hotel in the area was booked up. Kim and Khloe Kardashian skipped the red carpet but documented their attendance to their millions of followers on social media. The sisters wore two show-stopping outfits as they attended both the Friday and Saturday’s programme of events. On Friday, Kim wore a red lehenga while Khloe opted for a white and gold ensemble. On Saturday, Kim wore more neutral colours as Khloe went all out with a bright pink lehenga. Kim’s red ensemble raised some eyebrows because, according to Indian tradition, guests do not typically wear red to a wedding. Despite the extravagant efforts of guests, the couple remained very much the stars with groom arriving first wearing a golden sherwani paired with trainers, which he later changed for the ceremony. Then the bride appeared in a dazzling hand embroidered red and white ensemble, featuring a 16-foot long veil finished with stones and sequins. Inside the venue, guests walked into a miniature version of the holy Indian city of Varanasi, with finely carved sculptures and bouquets of flowers placed around the venue. The bride made her entrance on a boat before the couple exchanged their vows under a large alter with white domes. Later in the evening footage shared on social media showed spectacular performances from Indian singer Daler Mehndi and Afrobeats artist Rema. The guests also enjoyed the baraat, a lively wedding procession for the groom featuring live music and dancing. Videos of Priyanka Chopra and Ranveer Singh dancing to popular Bollywood songs quickly went viral on social media. The father of the groom, Mukesh Ambani, 66, is the world’s 9th richest man with a net worth of $116b, according to Forbes – making him the richest person is Asia. Ambani senior has begun passing the torch to his two sons and daughter. The eldest, Akash Ambani, is now chairperson of Reliance Jio, their telecoms business; his daughter, Isha, oversees retail, while the groom Anant, the youngest, has been brought into the new energy business. Anant, 29, has a bachelor’s degree from Brown University, according to Reliance Industries’ website, and oversees the renewable and green energy expansion. The bride, Radhika Merchant, also 29, is the daughter of pharmaceutical tycoon Viren Merchant and is the marketing director for his company, Encore Healthcare, according to Vogue. She told the magazine that the two were introduced through mutual friends in 2017. “That first meeting just sparked something special between us, and it wasn’t long before we started dating,” she said.
Ambani wedding: Inside world’s most expensive nuptials heading to UK as Prince Harry set to join celebrations
Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world
Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email
Prince Harry and Boris Johnson are among guests pencilled in for the UK-leg of the $600m wedding for the son of Asia’s richest man.
A host of A-list celebrities and politicians descended on Mumbai last weekend, as the Ambani-Merchant wedding reached its crescendo with three days of celebrations.
From Kim Kardashian to Tony Blair, the great and the good from the world of showbiz and politics were drawn to the extravagant event, which will now turn its attention to the UK.
The happy couple tied the knot on the weekend of July 12 but celebrations are expected to continue for months to come – with festivities resuming at the historic Stoke Park Country Club near Slough, The Sun reported.
The seven-star hotel was purchased by the Ambani family in 2021 for £57m and has featured on the silver screen – most famously in Bridget Jones’ Diary when Hugh Grant’s character falls into the water while rowing a boat.
The celebrations are set to continue at the Stoke Park Country Club near Slough (www.stokeparkclub.com/)
Some guests who attended the Mumbai wedding such Boris and Carrie Johnson, who were reportedly paid to attend, may make a second appearance at the hotel. The pair could be joined by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, who are rumoured to be among the UK guest list.
Around 850 members of the Grade II listed golf club have been warned to steer clear as the family have block-booked the hotel until September for renovations ahead of the event.
However, the Ambanis have reportedly clashed with the local council as questions with raised question as to whether the family was upholding the terms of the estate’s leasehold, according to the Financial Times.
Boris and Carrie Johnson brought their children along to the wedding (carrielbjohnson/Instagram)
The leasehold is clear the site must be used as a commercial property rather than a private one, making the move to close the hotel to the public while remaining open to the family a contentious one.
Although the celebrations in the UK will likely spare little expense, it is unlikely to upstage the pair’s lavish Mumbai ceremony.
The couple, Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant, are estimated to have spent an estimated $600 million on the events (AFP via Getty Images)
Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant are estimated to have spent $600m on the events, which will last for another two months. Anant is the son of India’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, while Radhika is the heiress to a pharmaceutical dynasty.
Their pre-wedding party consisted of a three-day celebration with a 1,200 person guest list including former world leaders, tech tycoons and a performance by Rihanna. Later, they embarked on European cruise with performances by Backstreet Boys and Katy Perry.
Rihanna famously performed at their pre-wedding party (via REUTERS)
The celebrations culminated with last weekend’s events, which saw the likes of Justin Bieber taking to the stage to perform at their traditional Sangeet night in Mumbai.
The couple married in a traditional Hindu ceremony on the Friday. This was followed by a ‘shubh ashirwad’ on Saturday — a ceremony held for the couple to receive blessings from guests and elders, culminating in a ‘mangal utsav’, the reception.
The three-day extravaganza was hosted at the 16,000 capacity Jio World Convention Centre (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
The weekend saw the Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, John Cena and Tony Blair, walk the red-carpet into the wedding venue.
The Ambanis hired 100 private jets to fly guests in from around the world while every five-star hotel in the area was booked up.
Kim and Khloe Kardashian skipped the red carpet but documented their attendance to their millions of followers on social media.
Kim and Khloe Kardashian skipped the red carpet arrival but documented their attendance to their millions of followers on social media. (carrielbjohnson/Instagram)
The sisters wore two show-stopping outfits as they attended both the Friday and Saturday’s programme of events. On Friday, Kim wore a red lehenga while Khloe opted for a white and gold ensemble. On Saturday, Kim wore more neutral colours as Khloe went all out with a bright pink lehenga.
On Saturday, Kim worse more neutral colours as Khloe went all out with a bright pink lehenga (kimkardashian/Instagram)
Kim’s red ensemble raised some eyebrows because, according to Indian tradition, guests do not typically wear red to a wedding.
Despite the extravagant efforts of guests, the couple remained very much the stars with groom arriving first wearing a golden sherwani paired with trainers, which he later changed for the ceremony.
Then the bride appeared in a dazzling hand embroidered red and white ensemble, featuring a 16-foot long veil finished with stones and sequins.
The bride made her entrance on an electric wooden boat before the couple exchanged their cows under a large alter with white domes. (AP)
Inside the venue, guests walked into a miniature version of the holy Indian city of Varanasi, with finely carved sculptures and bouquets of flowers placed around the venue.
The bride made her entrance on a boat before the couple exchanged their vows under a large alter with white domes.
Later in the evening footage shared on social media showed spectacular performances from Indian singer Daler Mehndi and Afrobeats artist Rema.
The guests also enjoyed the baraat, a lively wedding procession for the groom featuring live music and dancing.
Videos of Priyanka Chopra and Ranveer Singh dancing to popular Bollywood songs quickly went viral on social media.
People walk past the venue decorated with lights ahead (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
The father of the groom, Mukesh Ambani, 66, is the world’s 9th richest man with a net worth of $116b, according to Forbes – making him the richest person is Asia.
Ambani senior has begun passing the torch to his two sons and daughter. The eldest, Akash Ambani, is now chairperson of Reliance Jio, their telecoms business; his daughter, Isha, oversees retail, while the groom Anant, the youngest, has been brought into the new energy business.
Anant Ambani poses with his family on the red carpet ahead of his wedding ceremony (AFP via Getty Images)
Anant, 29, has a bachelor’s degree from Brown University, according to Reliance Industries’ website, and oversees the renewable and green energy expansion.
The bride, Radhika Merchant, also 29, is the daughter of pharmaceutical tycoon Viren Merchant and is the marketing director for his company, Encore Healthcare, according to Vogue.
She told the magazine that the two were introduced through mutual friends in 2017. “That first meeting just sparked something special between us, and it wasn’t long before we started dating,” she said.
Read the full story on www.independent.co.uk
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/ambani-merchant-wedding-mumbai-boris-kardashian-b2584507.html