British man arrested at Disneyland Paris after trying to marry girl, 9, in private wedding
A private event had been organised to take place in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle at the theme park, but Disney cast members were alerted by the sight of a child.
A British man has been arrested at Disneyland Paris after an apparent attempt to wed a nine-year-old girl in a private ceremony.
Disney staff alerted authorities after spotting the 22-year-old man with a young girl, who was wearing four-inch heels taped to her feet and accompanied by her Ukrainian mother, at a private event held at 5am on Saturday, before the park opened to the public.
The wedding was scheduled to occur at dawn in front of the Sleeping Beauty Castle, reports the Mirror. The French venue had been rented for a wedding, but the organisers did not disclose their plans to Disney.
According to reports from BFM TV in France, Disneyland Paris was misled about the event's nature. The organiser allegedly impersonated a Latvian national and used fraudulent documents to secure the contract for the park's privatisation.
Reports suggest guests were recruited online through advertisements seeking 200 adults and 100 children aged between five and 15 to act as attendees at a 'rehearsal' for a Disneyland wedding.
BFM obtained video footage showing approximately 100 seated guests awaiting the ceremony while a female violin trio performed at dawn on a stage adorned with flowers. The event reportedly cost around £110,000.
"Four people were arrested and questioned: the groom, who was believed to be the organiser of the event and is presumed to be British, aged 22; the mother of the child, a 41-year-old Ukrainian woman; and two Latvian nationals aged 55 and 24", according to a statement from the prosecutor's office in the nearby town of Meaux, France.
The 55-year-old Latvian man alleges he was hired to impersonate the bride's father for 12,000 euros, only to discover at the last minute she was nine years old, as per local news reports.
Disneyland Paris informed French newspaper Le Parisien its team promptly shut down the event and prevented guests from entering the venue.
The nature of the wedding remains uncertain, whether it was a publicity stunt or an actual ceremony. A medical examination revealed that the young girl had not been subjected to any violence, stated the prosecutor's office.
A police source indicated the groom claims to be the head of a production company and they were filming a video.
An updated statement from the prosecutor's office clarified: "So it wasn't a wedding, but a staged wedding filmed with around a hundred extras. They privatised Disneyland Paris, pretending it was a real wedding."
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Two suspects have been charged with 'fraud and breach of trust' against Disneyland Paris.
One guest at the wedding told Le Parisien: "We all thought we were going to attend a wedding... Everyone was stunned, no one expected it. Disneyland did things very well.
"They canceled everything as soon as they realised the bride was a child. We were shocked to see that."
Another guest, Yeleen, who attended the ceremony with her daughter, recounted: "I saw a little girl dressed in white. I saw her hair prepared with curls and a lady picking her up in her arms.
"At that moment, I was shocked. I realised when I saw the child. It was atrocious."
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