In an intimate ceremony that was a far cry from his daughter Petra’s £12m extravaganza, Bernie Ecclestone married his Brazilian girlfriend, Fabiana Flosi.
The Formula 1 tycoon wed Fabiana, a marketing director, at Le Lion, his chalet in the exclusive resort of Gstaad, Switzerland.
The couple’s low-key affair, which is reported to have happened two weeks ago, comes a year after fashion-designer Petra’s nuptials, which took place in Rome last August.Petra and her husband James Stunt, an art dealer, enjoyed a three-day ceremony which included live performances from the Black Eyed Peas and Eric Clapton.
The event was initially believed to cost around £1.3m but the sum of £12m, was made aware to Bernie after the wedding took place.At the time he commented: "My younger daughter got married and I thought, as the father of the bride, I should pay for the wedding," before later branding the extravagant ceremony "absurd. "Fabiana, who is Bernie’s third wife, was seen wearing a £100,000 engagement ring for the first time in April, when the pair announced their engagement.
Self-made billionaire Bernie, 81, met Fabiana, who is 46 years his junior, in 2009. The pair worked together on the Brazilian Grand Prix, where Fabiana is F1’s vice-president of marketing.
Notably absent from the wedding were Bernie's daughters Petra, 24, and Tamara, 28, who remained in LA. Tamara, a model, had been staying with at her sister’s £52m mansion following the break up of her relationship with boyfriend Omar Khyami.
Tamara had previously expressed that she would liked to have married at the £23m Swiss chalet, that the family have owned for more than 15 years and where they holiday every Christmas.
Set in manicured grounds, the traditional four-storey chalet is one of the most prestigious properties in the area, boasting an indoor swimming pool, a vast entertaining salon and fantastic views over the Bernese Oberland.
Neighbours at the property, who include Italian fashion designer Valentino and film director Roman Polanski, said they were unaware that the wedding was taking place. In May, Tamara revealed that she had no plans to attend her father’s wedding out of loyalty to her mother, former Armani model Slavica. The wedding is the third trip down the aisle for the octogenarian, who had vowed to “remain single for the rest of his life” after having to pay out to Slavica an estimated £1 billion of his £2.4 billion fortune following their divorce.
