Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez's Venice wedding in pictures
One of the world's most enchanting cities as a backdrop? Check.
Star-studded guest list and tabloid buzz? Of course.
Local flavour? You bet.
And then, time to tie the knot. The couple held their wedding ceremony on Friday night, local time, and the now Mrs Sánchez Bezos posted to Instagram a photo of herself beaming in a white gown as she stood alongside a tuxedo-clad Mr Bezos, the world's fourth-richest man.
Before the nuptials, Ms Sanchez, 55, wearing short-sleeved, cream, fitted skirt suit, with shades and a head scarf to protect her from the blistering summer sun, boarded a motor boat for the small island of San Giorgio where the couple would exchange rings.
About two hours later, Mr Bezos, 61, wearing a black tuxedo and bow tie over a white shirt, made the same short trip across the lagoon, accompanied by singing from Matteo Bocelli, son of Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli.
Businesses have welcomed the glitz and glamour but it is opposed by a local protest movement whose members resent what they see as Venice being gift-wrapped for ultra-rich outsiders. Mr Bezos is No 4 on Forbes' global billionaires list.
The anti-Bezos front is planning a march on Saturday, and its activities have already led authorities to step up security and move the location of the closing party to a more secluded part of Venice, the Arsenale former shipyard.
But politicians, hoteliers and some other Venice residents are happy about the wedding, saying such events do more to support the local economy than the multitudes of day-trippers who normally overrun the city.
Bill Gates, Leonardo DiCaprio, Orlando Bloom, Tom Brady, the queen of Jordan, Oprah Winfrey, Kris Jenner and Kim and Khloe Kardashian as well as Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, and Domenico Dolce from Dolce & Gabbana, are among the 200-250 guests.
Amid tight security, there have been glimpses of the celebrities moving around town, the women in summer dresses and high heels stepping somewhat gingerly off boats ferrying them around the city's canals.
Celebrations began on Thursday evening in the cloisters of Madonna dell'Orto, a medieval church in the central district of Cannaregio that hosts masterpieces by 16th-century painter Tintoretto.
"This magical place has gifted us unforgettable memories," the bride and groom said on their wedding invitation, in which they asked for "no gifts" and pledged charity donations for three Venetian institutions.
Their donations are worth 3 million euros ($5.8 million).
AP/Reuters
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News.com.au
12 hours ago
- News.com.au
Sex, drugs, murder and injustice: Amanda Knox tells the real story behind THAT 2007 murder
We've sifted through the latest offerings from TV and streaming platforms to find the best shows you should be watching this week. THE TWISTED TALE OF AMANDA KNOX NEW EPISODES WEDNESDAYS, DISNEY+ It's understandable why Amanda Knox would want to make this eight-part retelling of her arrest, trial, conviction, demonisation and eventual exoneration for the 2007 murder of her British flatmate, Meredith Kercher, while studying in picturesque Perugia. The salacious story with sex, drugs and even Satanism that saw her dubbed Foxy Knoxy and spend four years in an Italian jail is absolutely hers to tell after all the indignities and injustices she suffered. Knox herself is on board as an executive producer for this well told dramatisation that draws from her books Waiting To Be Heard and Free and it's presented as her chance to correct her 'often mistold and madly twisted tale'. By the same token, the producers are at pains to point out that liberties have been taken with characters and timelines and that knowledge – after movies inspired by the case and a 2016 Netflix documentary – can make it sometimes uneasy viewing. Kercher's sister last year said it was 'difficult to understand' the purpose of series that puts the awfulness front and centre and again – and she has a point. JAMES WIGNEY Imagine coming home to find your apartment has been broken into and your housemate brutally slain. Now imagine your confusion and frustration as you are interrogated for hours – in a foreign language – by police who seem hell bent on proving you are a cold-blooded, sex-crazed killer. This new true crime drama offers almost visceral insights into the bewilderment of American student Amanda Knox as she finds herself wrongly accused of murdering her British friend Meredith Kercher in 2007. The trial, imprisonment and subsequent exoneration of Knox, which made headlines around the globe, are all detailed in this new series starring Grace Van Patten as Knox and Bad Sisters' creator Sharon Horgan as her devoted mum. Certainly, Knox is an imperfect victim. Her response to the tragedy – canoodling with her boyfriend at the crime scene, doing cartwheels in the police station and pointing the finger of blame at her boss during a 'confession' – is far from textbook. And that's partly what makes this series so compelling. SIOBHAN DUCK ADAM RICHMAN EATS FOOTBALL WEDNESDAY, 9PM, SBS FOOD It's not often you hear fine dining and football mentioned in the same sentence, but American celebrity chef and world game enthusiast Adam Richman is out to change that in this series that travels around the UK finding ways to combine the two. His first stop is East London, home to West Ham United, a traditionally working class area that's been gentrified and now has the culinary choices to prove it. From scoffing a pie and mash made from an 80-year-old recipe to sampling fancy wood pigeon on an up-market barge – and of course a match day curry – Richman looks like he's having an absolute ball. Coming episodes will take him to Nottingham, Birmingham, Glasgow, Manchester and Newcastle. TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR V MANCHESTER CITY SATURDAY, 9.30PM, CHANNEL 9, 9NOW What a joy to see the English Premier League back on free-to-air television with a game each week (the rest is on Stan, live or on demand). London club Tottenham Hotspur began its post Ange Postecoglou era in style last week with a convincing win over 3-0 win over Burnley, while the Manchester City machine also fired up early with 4-0 belting of Wolverhampton Wolves that sent them straight to the top of the table. Having won six of the last eight titles, City underperformed by their own lofty standards last season, so fans will be expecting a better showing to wrest the top dog status back from arch rivals Liverpool. ROME UNDERGROUND SUNDAY, 7.30PM, SBS If you think any of the recent underground rail projects in Australia have been complicated, try digging holes in a city where hidden, ancient treasures lurk underneath just about every street. That's the dilemma facing the engineers and archaeologists tasked with constructing a much needed extension to a rail line in the Eternal City, where nearly 3000 years of history are stacked on top of each other and only 10 per cent has been excavated. While trying to improve access to tourist hotspots such as the Colosseum and Piazza Venezia, they discover huge barracks with delicate mosaics and frescoes, and never-before-seen auditoriums and private houses, and have to figure out a way to balance the lessons of the past with progress. AMERICA'S TEAM: THE GAMBLER AND HIS COWBOYS NETFLIX With the new NFL season just over two weeks away, American football lovers can kick off a little early with this seven-part series on the rollercoaster ride that was Dallas Cowboys in the 1990s. Renegade owner Jerry Jones took over the popular Texas franchise known as 'America's Team' in 1989 and sacked its beloved two-time Super Bowl winning coach Tom Landry in favour of his firebrand friend Jimmy Johnson. Together they assembled a team of superstars that would dominate the decade with three championships – despite a string of scandals – and help turn it into a $9 billion juggernaut. Key players including Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin and Emmitt Smith – aka the Triplets – are interviewed along with high-profile guests such as former President George W. Bush and Nike co-founder Phil Knight. I, JACK WRIGHT SUNDAY, 8.55PM, ABC There are mysteries and mayhem aplenty in this pulpy six-part UK drama about an already volatile family thrown into further turmoil after the apparent suicide of its patriarch. The title character is a thrice-married hard man, who has pulled himself up by the bootstraps to preside over a 100 million pound brick business. But when he's found dead on his country estate, seemingly with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, his wives, children, in-laws, colleagues and staff are all left wondering what will happen to his fortune. After gathering to see the old boy off at a boozy wake, the will reading that follows is nothing short of explosive, setting the stage for a family battle royal, while the cops investigate whether everything is as it seems. OUTBACK TRUCKERS TUESDAY, 8PM, 7MATE Driving an enormous beast of a vehicle through the parched Aussie interior sounds like my idea of a nightmare, but there's something strangely compelling about watching these resourceful and resilient pros performing an essential service in the toughest of conditions and weighing up the cost of time away from family. There's veteran Steve, who is dragging an excavator through 1000km of blistering heat and rutted roads to an amethyst mine. Mike is delivering much needed firefighting equipment to a remote community, and performing emergency surgery on his malfunctioning rig. And Sludge is on the comeback trail after an accident and feeling the pressure to turn up on time for a very short shutdown window of the only rail line between the east and west sides of the country. KILLER WHALE: AUSTRALIA'S MEGAPOD TUESDAY, 8.30PM, ABC Killer whales are all too often painted as the villains of nature docos – the bullies of the sea who bump adorable seals off slabs of ice or gang up to hunt down playful dolphins. And yes, they are absolutely partial to a sea lion snack or a cetacean canape, but they are also extraordinary and fascinating creatures with complex social structures and methods of communication. This outstanding documentary, narrated by Richard Roxburgh, follows a couple of orca experts operating out of Bremer Bay in Western Australia as they track, tag and study a community of the ocean's apex predators and make some extraordinary discoveries about an animal that developed a complex brain 30 million years before we did. TENDING – PRINCES OF THE PALACE Whether it's the revelation a jealous Prince Andrew made snarky comments about Kate Middleton or cringey home videos of Harry and Meghan Markle bumping and grinding in the delivery suite, the spare heirs keep making headlines for all the wrong reasons. Having weathered Andrew's car crash interview with Emily Maitlis and Harry's biography Spare, the Palace is now dealing with the fallout of Andrew Lownie's biography Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York which digs up more dirt on Randy Andy. Some of the lesser known the antics of Andrew, Harry and the House of Windsor's other menfolk are also detailed in this salacious 2016 documentary.
News.com.au
4 days ago
- News.com.au
‘Crying': Jake Paul steals thunder at brother's glamorous wedding
WWE star Logan Paul and model Nina Agdal got married during a ceremony in Lake Como, Italy on Saturday, according to a video shared by his younger brother Jake on Instagram. It marked a return to the area where Paul proposed in July 2023, which was just over a year after the couple was spotted at a restaurant in London with friends, The New York Post reports. And the ceremony that, according to TMZ, was officiated by Mike Majlak — the 'Impaulsive' podcast co-host — caused Jake to become emotional, as he captioned the video with, 'I've seriously been crying.' Paul and Agdal welcomed their first child, Esme, in September 2024, and she was in attendance at the ceremony, too, along with Jake and his fiancee, Jutta Leerdam. During the ceremony, Paul donned a white jacket, a black bow tie and black pants, and the pair of couples posted for a photo afterward. Paul and Agdal were spotted in Cernobbio on Wednesday paddling separate canoes and swimming, and Paul also shared a series of photos and videos — including one of the couple practising their dance for the ceremony — to reveal that it was his 'wedding week.' When Paul proposed to Agdal at Hotel Passalacqua last year, Agdal was 'completely blindsided by the proposal and was visibly surprised' — and the ring was the wrong size, a witness told the Daily Mail at the time. Then, Paul reportedly called Jake and said, 'Bro, you have a sister,' the outlet added. 'Today is the day I ask the love of my life to marry me,' Paul said in a 2023 YouTube video that provided a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the proposal. 'Fourteen months ago, I fell in love with the most beautiful human being I've ever seen in my life, and I have been waiting for this day ever since.' Paul's fame has skyrocketed after making his in-ring WWE debut in 2022, and he spent time on the field pregame at Yankee Stadium two weeks ago ahead of WWE SummerSlam — posing with Aaron Judge and getting the superstar to sign a baseball. But before Paul faces John Cena in a singles bout at WWE Clash in Paris on Aug. 31, he took a break for the extravagant ceremony.
News.com.au
5 days ago
- News.com.au
‘Next to go': Kimmel's bold move after Trump's latest attack
Jimmy Kimmel is officially fed up with Trump's second-term nonsense — and he has obtained Italian citizenship as a contingency plan. The late-night host confirmed the move on The Sarah Silverman Podcast, revealing he secured went down the path of setting up an exit strategy in the wake of Donald Trump's 'unbelievable' re-election. 'I did get Italian citizenship,' Kimmel said. 'What's going on is as bad as you thought it was gonna be. It's so much worse - it's just unbelievable. 'I feel like it's probably even worse than he would like it to be.' His comments come just weeks after Trump publicly celebrated the axing of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and not-so-subtly suggested Kimmel would be next. 'I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings. 'I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next. Has even less talent than Colbert!' Trump wrote on Truth Social. He doubled down days later, adding: 'The word is, and it's a strong word at that, Jimmy Kimmel is NEXT to go in the untalented Late Night Sweepstakes and, shortly thereafter, Fallon will be gone.' Colbert responded by telling Trump to 'go f**k yourself'. The Late Show will go off the air in May 2026 following a surprise announcement by broadcaster CBS. The channel is part ofParamount,which is in the throes of an $US8 billion ($A12.3 billion) takeover that requires approval by the Trump-controlled Federal Communications Commission. It pulled the plug three days after Colbert skewered CBS for settling a lawsuit with Trump. He accused it of paying what he termed 'a big fat bribe' of $US16 million ($A24.6 million) to the president for what he called 'deceptive' editing of an interview with his 2024 election opponent, former vice president Kamala Harris. Kimmel, a long-time critic of Trump, hasn't backed down. On the podcast, he spoke about the importance of supporting those who've changed their minds about the former president, including previous backers like Joe Rogan. 'Now you see these clips of Joe Rogan saying, 'Why is he doing this? Why are you deporting people?' And people go, 'F**k you! You supported him.' I don't buy into that,' Kimmel said. 'The door has to stay open. If you want to change your mind, that's so hard to do. 'If you want to admit you were wrong, that is so hard and so rare to do. You are welcome.' Italian news agency ANSA confirmed that Kimmel had acquired citizenship through his ancestral lineage. Speaking at an Italian Republic Day event in Los Angeles in June, Kimmel shared more about his roots. 'I have just obtained citizenship, thanks to my beloved grandmother Edith, whose family came from Candida, in the province of Avellino,' he said. 'She used to repeat to me, 'You have the brain of a hamster'!' His grandfather's family emigrated from the island of Ischia after an 1883 earthquake claimed most of their relatives. And Kimmel's not alone - other stars are also eyeing an escape route since Trump's comeback. Rosie O'Donnell relocated to Ireland in January, and Ellen DeGeneres recently confirmed she and her wife, Portia de Rossi, have moved to the UK. 'It's clean,' DeGeneres said of their new home. 'Everything here is just better - the way animals are treated, people are polite. I just love it here.' She also voiced concern about the future of LGBTQ+ rights in the US, adding that she and De Rossi may remarry in the UK if same-sex marriage is overturned. Not everyone believes Kimmel is serious, and plenty online reactions have criticised his 'privileged' decision: 'Jimmy had to make a EUR 500,000 (minimum) investment in real estate or an Italian startup to do this… I think Democrats call this white privilege.' 'Oh, look at Jimmy Kimmel, securing his Italian citizenship like it's a backstage pass to a gelato festival... another Hollywood hero bravely retreating to a villa.' 'Enjoy that 50 per cent exit tax.'
