Don’t you love a winter wedding? They’re so snowy and romantic — or at least they are in Switzerland, where Miss Ross (41 at the time) married the man she claimed was the love of her life at a very VERY VERY old priory. (You know a building is old when a Wikipedia waxes concerned about the destruction of its old buildings and said destruction occurred…in 1537.)
Nuptial Factoids of interest:
1. The groom was a shipping tycoon and a mountain-climbing enthusiast who tragically died in 2004 when his mountain climbing equipment failed and he fell. He and Miss Ross had divorced in 1999, when it came out that he’d fathered a child with another woman, who he then went on to live with until his death. She sang “Amazing Grace” at his funeral, so they must have been on fairly decent terms.
2. The Associated Press reported, contemporaneously:
Singer Stevie Wonder and actor Gregory Peck were among those attending the 40-minute ceremony in the Abbey of Romainmotier in this mountainside village. Local news accounts said singer Michael Jackson and actor Marlon Brando also would attend, but journalists were barred from the church and could not confirm the reports. Members of the Ross entourage declined to answer questions.
Other news reports are doubtful about Marlon and Michael’s attendance but I’ve decided they were there because why not. (“How did Diana Ross know Marlon Brando?” is a question I do not know the answer to, but I suspect it is “because they are both VERY famous.”)
3. The New York Post said that Stevie Wonder sang “I Just Called to Say I Love You” at the wedding, which is absolutely one of the best things that can happen at a person’s wedding, by my reckoning.
4. The AP report also claims that the bride’s veil was made of $20,000 worth of Belgian lace. It IS a gorgeous and very dramatic veil. (I cannot find a designer credit for her wedding gown!)
5. This contemporaneous report from UPI is also full of juicy info, like: “The bridesmaid was Princess Christina, sister of Swedish King Carl Gustaf,” and “The couple left the wedding ceremony through an honor arch of mountain picks, held aloft by the mountain-climbing crew Naess once led up Mount Everest” and “the local priest, Jean-Pierre Tuscher, initially was skeptical about what he thought would be a ‘Hollywood-type show marriage,’ but Ross visited three times to rehearse the ceremony and ‘won him over,’ one newspaper said.”
In looking up how Princess Christina and Diana Ross became bosom friends, I discovered that they’ve at least known each other since 1968. (That photo is a hoot; Princess Christina’s whole vibe is low-key “OMG YOU GUYS IT’S DIANA ROSS!”) I have no other info about this relationship, but I will remind you that Princess Christina has a very low-key, scandal-free Wikipedia and really loves elegant glass.
6. The reception was held at Hotel Beau-Rivage in Lausanne and I hope it goes without saying that I would stab myself in the face if it meant I could safely go swan around this hotel. IT IS LUXE.
