Petra Ecclestone’s Wedding Only Cost £12m And Featured Not One Unicorn: Bernie Confesses To German Court
RICH goings on in Munich, Germany, where F1 action figure Bernie Ecclestone reveals that his ex-wife Slavica invested “in excess of £12 million” on their daughter Petra’s wedding to James Stunt.
He says he and his former beau argued over the £4,000-a-bottle Château Petrus wine, the stuff the wedding guests would sip as they listened to Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Black Eyed Peas, ate caviar, calamari, ravioli, lamb chop and chocolate pudding, and pissed away in the luxury toilets hand stitched by British craftsmen.
In a bid to prove that he had not misused the terms of an offshore trust in order to avoid inheritance tax for his aforesaid wife and daughters Petra and handbag collector Tamara Ecclestone, 81-year-old Bernie offered:
“Here’s a little bit of a demonstration of what really happens. My younger daughter got married and I thought as father of the bride I should pay for the wedding. But when it was suggested how much they would be spending on drinks, I thought it was absurd and I managed to upset my daughter and my wife. Then she spent in excess of £12 million on my daughter’s wedding, which I did not know about until afterwards.”
As reported:
Mr Ecclestone is in Germany, not to put in a bid for it for his kids, but for the trial of Gerhard Gribkowsky, a German banker who denies tax evasion and receiving bribes worth $44 million (£28 million) from Mr Ecclestone and the family trust, called Bambino.
The Times reports:
Prosecutors say that the money was paid to ensure that Mr Ecclestone remained in charge of Formula One after its sale by Mr Gribkowsky’s bank to its new owners in 2006. Mr Ecclestone told the court that he was “shaken down” by Mr Gribkowsky and paid the money to “keep him quiet” over false allegations that the banker was threatening to make to HM Revenue & Customs that he was misusing the Bambino trust.
“It is something that went on for quite a long period — he was very sophisticated in the way he was shaking me down,” Mr Ecclestone said. “I have been shaken down by other people but I must confess not quite as professionally as he did.”
Mr Ecclestone described Mr Gribkowsky and Slavica as “drinking partners” and was asked if he was worried about his ex-wife’s relationship with the banker.“Your wife was quite close to Mr Gribkowsky and met with him in a mobile home,” a defence lawyer said, asking what they might have talked about. “I think perhaps she was interrogating him to see if I had any girlfriends,” Mr Ecclestone said.
Asked to clarify why Mr Gribkowsky would be in a position to know about alleged girlfriends, plural, Mr Ecclestone corrected the record. “No, one,” he said. In another insight into the billionaire’s mind, the German tax authority asked Mr Ecclestone why he did not simply report Mr Gribkowsky’s threats to the police. “It was one of those things in life you want to forget about,” Mr Ecclestone said, referring to the $22 million he said he paid to buy Mr Gribkowsky’s silence.
“Regrettably I am reminded about it now.”
Anorak is stunned that the wedding costs £12million and featured no elephants. Who the hell has a wedding these days without elephants? Tamara, call me. Your wedding won’t be such a recession-bitten failure. The unicorn breeding programme is progressing well and so long as soon as Hermes have finished work on the bag, we’ll bring you the moon…
Posted: 11th, November 2011 | In: Key Posts, Sports Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
