Am I as Common as Lauren Sánchez? If So, Where Does That Leave Me?

THE OBSERVER – OPINION AND IDEAS: The eyes of the world are on Lauren Sánchez and I know exactly how she feels

I’m feeling a keen sense of kinship with Lauren Sánchez – with her Louboutin heels and terracotta-hued tan, she’s clearly considered far too common to get wed in Venice.

By the time you read this, Sánchez should be hitched to the billionaire overlord of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, following three days of high-octane Italian nuptials, the details of which I’ve been gobbling up like forkfuls of piping-hot aubergine parmigiana.

The estimated £34m-£41m bill. The starry guests (Oprah, Leonardo, Ivanka, a sprinkling of Kardashians). Lauren’s reported 27 costume changes (A day? An hour?). Talk about a But there have also been protests: a banner in St Mark’s Square was emblazoned with a picture of Bezos and the words: “If you can rent Venice for your wedding, you can pay more tax.” At a time of global financial insecurity, perhaps parking 122-foot superyachts alongside 16th-century basilicas was never going to give optimal optics? » | Barbara Ellen | Columnist | Saturday, June 28, 2025

Billionaire’s Lavish Wedding! This Woman Cost Bezos $40 Billion... But What Shocked Everyone?

Jun 28, 2025 | The wedding of one of the richest men in the world, Jeff Bezos, instantly became the most talked-about event around the globe. The luxurious celebration in Venice is being compared to last year’s Ambani wedding: millions of dollars, hundreds of celebrities, and even royal guests. But behind all that glamour were protests, arguments, and waves of criticism.

Self-evidently, there was far more money there than there was taste! There was nary a well-dressed person in sight. Nor a well-coiffed person, either. This is proof that money can’t buy you style. – © Mark Alexander

Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez's Wedding underway in Venice | BBC News

Jun 28, 2025 | Reality stars, actors, royals and A-listers have travelled to Venice for the lavish wedding of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and TV presenter Lauren Sánchez.

Oprah Winfrey, Orlando Bloom, Kylie Jenner and Ivanka Trump were just some of the celebrities seen on the boats and streets of the Italian city on Thursday and Friday.

But the event has attracted protests from a variety of groups in Venice, including locals fighting over-tourism to climate change activists.

The festivities are expected to last three days, ending with a large party for the married couple and their hundreds of guests on Saturday.

Why Bezos' Opulent Wedding Is Fueling Anger over the Political Influence of the Ultra-rich | DW News

June 28, 2025 | Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has married Lauren Sánchez in a lavish ceremony in Venice estimated to have cost as much as 50 million US dollars. The billionaire tycoon wore black tie for the boat ride to the ceremony, with the actual venue a closely guarded secret. His bride wore an elegant cream Dior suit to get there, with a choice of designer dresses lined up for the exchange of vows. Dozens of A-list guests flew in for the occasion in a fleet of private jets.

The extravagance and opulence of the wedding also set off a string of protests in Venice. Bezos said he would donate more than a million to local charities. Critics of low taxation of the ultra-wealthy point to the dangers of rich billionaires such as Bezos shaping politics with their donations rather than making tax contributions.

To Whom Does Venice Belong? Bezos Wedding Draws Attention to Bucket List Destination • FRANCE 24

June 26, 2025 | Where else but the city of merchants, one whose fortune was founded on global trade, to host the celebrity wedding of the digital age's king of ecommerce? In Venice, Jeff Bezos, the billionaire owner of online trading platform Amazon, is tying the knot with journalist-turned-TV personality Lauren Sanchez in a spectacle that's drawn both paparazzi and protesters. What does this spectacle out of a Fellini movie say about the age we live in?

Bezos Wedding Venue Disruption 'a Symbolic Victory for People Power', Activist Group Says

June 25, 2025 | FRANCE 24's Sharon Gaffney speaks to the spokesperson for the "Everyone Hates Elon" activist group, which unfurled a giant banner reading "If you can rent Venice for your wedding, you can pay more tax" on Piazza San Marco, in protest at plans to shut down parts of the city for Jeff Bezos' celebrity wedding. He says the group "wanted to make a point that it's just obscene that any one person can do that at a time when most of us are struggling to pay the bills".

Jeff Bezos Changes Venice Wedding Venue amid Protests and Activist Stunt Threats | 10 News First

Jun 25, 2025 | Campaigners in Venice are claiming a win after Jeff Bezos was reportedly forced to change the venue for his wedding celebrations, as guests began arriving on Tuesday for the lavish three-day event.

The main reception for Bezos and his fiancée, former TV journalist Lauren Sánchez, was initially planned for the Scuola Grande della Misericordia, a grand 16th-century building in the heart of the city. But according to activist group No Space for Bezos, the couple backed down after protesters threatened to disrupt the event by filling the canals with inflatable crocodiles to block celebrity arrivals.

Greenpeace Italia and UK-based group Everyone Hates Elon also joined the demonstrations, unveiling a giant banner in St Mark’s Square on Monday featuring an image of Bezos laughing, alongside the message: “If you can rent Venice for your wedding, you can pay more tax.”


Related material here.

Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Arrive in Venice for Divisive Wedding

THE GUARDIAN: Nuptials of Amazon founder and former TV journalist to kick off on Thursday as activists continue to protest against event

The billionaire Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, and the former TV journalist Lauren Sánchez have arrived in Venice as they prepare to tie the knot in a lavish three-day celebration that has divided the lagoon city.

Scores of celebrities and other members of the world’s super-rich will also join the pair in Italy, arriving on superyachts and private jets.

Bezos, the world’s fourth-richest person, was spotted by a Reuters reporter on Wednesday entering the exclusive Aman Venice hotel on the Grand Canal, where many of the celebrities will stay. His wife-to-be was also later sighted by photographers.

More than 90 private jets are expected to land in Venice before the celebrations officially begin on Thursday, bringing in guests for an event that some have called the “wedding of the century” and is rumoured to involve everything from pyjama parties to elegant dinners. » | Angela Giuffrida in Venice | Wednesday, June 25, 2025


Related video here.

Jeff Bezos Forced to Abandon Lavish Venice Wedding after Protests

Jun 24, 2025 | “The wedding will take all the water, taxis, five luxury hotels, all fixed for him… moreover he’s not getting married in Venice.”

Jeff Bezos's lavish wedding in Venice has been relocated after Venitians protested en masse, says Tommaso Cacciari, who led one of the protest groups.

Russian Ambassadors 'Joked about Annexing Scotland'

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A leaked recording purporting to be of envoys joking about adding Scotland, Alaska and Venice to Russia's conquest of Crimea is the latest salvo in the war of dirty tricks over Ukraine

The war of dirty tricks over the Ukraine crisis escalated on Friday with the leak of a conversation purporting to be of two Russian ambassadors joking about adding Scotland, Alaska, and Venice to Russia’s conquest of Crimea.

The expletive ridden conversation posted on Youtube features two voices said to be Igor Chubarov, the ambassador to Eritrea, and Sergei Bakharev, the ambassador to Zimbabwe and Malawi.

The voice labelled as Mr Chubarov’s congratulates Mr Bakharev on persuading Zimbabwe to back Russia’s position on Crimea at the UN, and goes on to joke about telling a European diplomat about future conquests.

“We’ve got Crimea, but that’s not ----ing all, folks. In the future we’ll take you ----ing Catalonia, Venice, as well as Scotland and Alaska,” the voice says.

The pair go on to add Miami and London to their hit list, noting that "Miamiland' is ----ing 95 percent Russian citizens." » | Roland Oliphant, Moscow and Tony Paterson, Berlin | Friday, April 04, 2014

Russians Petition for Return of Alaska »

Independence from Rome! Venice Floating Away Unnoticed as Crimea Steals Show

While the Crimean referendum tops world media headlines, an attempt at secession is going on in Veneto, Italy, with its major city Venice. But as it is being virtually ignored by media, people in Europe are hardly aware of what's happening next door.

Venice At War Over Islamic Heritage

Grand Canal, Venice

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Venice unveils controversial plans to build an Islamic museum

Centuries after providing a massive armada for the crusades against the Saracens and battling the Ottomans, a fight has broken out in Venice over plans to build a museum of Islamic art on the banks of the Grand Canal.

The initiative was announced by Enrico Letta, the prime minister of Italy, during a diplomatic and trade visit to Qatar.

Speaking in Doha, Mr Letta said his government had "made a commitment to explore the opportunity to build an Islamic museum in Venice on the Grand Canal".

But the plan was immediately attacked by the separatist Northern League, which counts the Veneto, the region around Venice, as one of its strongholds.

Luca Zaia, the governor of the region and a senior member of the League, said he found it hard to believe that the government in Rome had “money to throw at an Islamic museum” when Venice had so many other problems, with its cultural heritage under threat from rising sea levels and the crushing weight of mass tourism. The museum would be “a waste of resources”, he said.

“I’m amazed that with all the problems that Italy has, from sky-high unemployment to businesses closing down because of excessive taxes and the worst economic crisis since the Second World War, that they could even think of putting money into a new, useless museum. “Is this really the priority?”

Massimo Bitonci, a senator in the anti-immigration party, said: “We don’t want any Islamic museum in Venice. Letta would do better to focus on the economic crisis instead of thinking (of ways) to spread Islam.” » | Nick Squires, Rome | Tuesday, February 04, 2014

Half of Venice Under Water
After days of rain, water in Venice rises to a height of 55 inches above sea level, flooding many shops and buildings.

Mass Rally in Venice to Call for Independence from Italy

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A mass rally to be held in Venice on Saturday will call for independence from Italy, two centuries after Napoleonic forces brought to an end the 1,000-year Venetian Republic.

Indipendenza Veneta, a pro-independence political movement, says it expects several thousand people to turn up for the rally in the centre of the lagoon city.

It has drawn inspiration from the examples of Scotland and Catalonia, saying more and more regions in Europe are seeking independence from central government control.

Activists dream of carving out a new country in north-eastern Italy which would comprise Venice, the surrounding region of Veneto and parts of the regions of Lombardy, Trentino and Friuli-Venezia Giulia.

It would roughly conform to the historic boundaries of the Venetian Republic, once a prosperous trading power, and would encompass about five million people.

Recent surveys show widespread support for independence among Venetians, who want the issue put to a referendum. » | Nick Squires, Rome | Friday, October 05, 2012