VENICE: Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and journalist Lauren Sanchez started three days of lavish marriage ceremony celebrations in Venice on Thursday (Jun 26), with tight safety shielding their VIP visitors from protesters.
Invoice Gates, Orlando Bloom and the Queen of Jordan had been among the many newest arrivals, becoming a member of Oprah Winfrey, Kris Jenner and Kim and Khloe Kardashian.
US President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner, who arrived earlier this week, have used the additional time for sightseeing and buying.
Some 200 to 250 visitors from present enterprise, politics and finance are anticipated to attend the occasion, broadly dubbed the “marriage ceremony of the century” and estimated to value round US$50 million.
The occasion has stirred debate about its influence on one of many world’s most iconic cities. Protesters see it for instance of Venice being gift-wrapped for ultra-wealthy outsiders, whereas others have welcomed the spectacle and the spending.
An activist climbed one of many poles in St Mark’s Sq. on Thursday, unfurling a banner that learn “The 1% ruins the world” in protest in opposition to the presence of billionaire Bezos.
Company gathered on Thursday night within the cloisters of Madonna dell’Orto, a medieval church within the Cannaregio district that hosts masterpieces by Sixteenth-century painter Tintoretto.
The town council banned pedestrians and water site visitors from the realm from 4.30pm to midnight, to make sure safety and privateness for the attendees.
LUXURY VENUE AND SECRET CEREMONY
Bezos, 61, and Sanchez, 55, landed in Venice by helicopter on Wednesday and took up residence within the luxurious Aman resort, the place rooms overlooking the Grand Canal begin at €4,000 (US$4,686) per evening.
They’re anticipated to alternate vows on Friday on the island of San Giorgio, reverse St Mark’s Sq., in a ceremony that reportedly won’t have authorized standing underneath Italian legislation.
Some reviews counsel the couple might have already got legally wed in the US.
Celebrations are set to conclude on Saturday with a marriage get together on the Arsenale, a former shipyard now used as an arts venue within the Castello district.
The “No House for Bezos” motion has pledged extra protests in opposition to what they name the commodification of Venice. Nevertheless, many locals have voiced assist for such high-end occasions.
