Dua Lipa and Callum Turner’s wedding venue’s links to the Mafia as it’s revealed the lavish villa was once at the centre of Sicily’s ‘Triangle of Death’
Dua Lipa and Callum Turner will marry at a three-day Sicilian extravaganza this week and have chosen an idyllic villa as the centerpiece of their celebrations.
The 30-year-old pop star, who fell in love with the city of Palermo last summer, and the 36-year-old actor will get married at Villa Valguarnera in the town of Bagheria, 10 kilometers away from the capital.
Just hours after the intimate ceremony at London’s Marylebone Register Office on Sunday, a team of workers began blocking roads around the venue that will host the celebrations this weekend.
Leading names in showbiz such as Elton John, Olivia Dean, Mark Ronson and Charli XCX will be among the guests of the rumored £1 million party.
But while Villa Valguarnera, built in the 18th century, has a glittering screen history, including the opening credits of The White Lotus and the setting of a Dolce & Gabbana commercial, its real-life history is a bit darker.
The 100-room villa was once an important meeting point for Palermo’s intelligentsia and attracted the attention of Cosa Nostra, Sicilian Mafia bosses who moved here in the 1980s.
Dua Lipa and Callum Turner will marry at a three-day Sicilian extravaganza this week and have chosen an idyllic villa as the centerpiece of their celebrations
The 30-year-old pop star, who fell in love with the city of Palermo last summer, and the 36-year-old actor will get married at Villa Valguarnera in the town of Bagheria, 10 kilometers away from the capital.
At the time, the small town of Bagheria was part of Sicily’s so-called Triangle of Death due to numerous mob murders.
Villa gained a reputation among the Mafia as a safe hiding place for smugglers such as Bernardo Provenzano and Matteo Messina Denaro.
The gangsters who stayed there destroyed the historical villa. At one point wild animals were allowed to roam freely through the acres of gardens and 100 ornate rooms, destroying the ballroom.
They were also known to steal an ancient statue of Polyphemus from the garden by helicopter. There were also plans to turn the villa into a casino.
But by the end of the 90s, the mafia was overthrown by the Italian princess owner of the Villa, Vittoria Alliata di Villafranca (76); He still resides here today and is a little more selective about who he rents the house to.
The emergence of the mafia has led to a shift in the town’s reputation, thanks to local residents’ crackdown on Cosa Nostra families and businesses revolting against paying protection money in recent years.
The town’s mayor, Filippo Tripoli, said: Times: ‘Bagheria is rebounding after years of being known for mafia and violence, and Dua Lipa is helping that process by putting it on the map for a different reason.’
Villa Valguarnera will host Dua and Callum’s main ceremony, and the couple is expected to hold a second civil ceremony during their three-day celebration, officiated by Palermo Mayor Roberto Lagalla.
The 100-room villa was once an important meeting point for Palermo’s intelligentsia and attracted the attention of Cosa Nostra, Sicilian Mafia bosses who moved here in the 1980s.
The privately owned, magnificent 18th-century Palazzo Gangi will be the center of the party on Saturday, with the magnificent Galleria degli Specchi (Hall of Mirrors) providing the perfect setting.
No expense will be spared on the wedding, with the couple’s fortune estimated at more than £100 million thanks to Dua Lipa’s singing success and Turner’s acting career – he is set to become the next James Bond.
Three hundred family and friends will attend the three-day party, which kicks off on Thursday with private jet slots reserved at Palermo airport and a fleet of blacked-out limousines to transport guests to various villas and hotels.
Private security firms also do extensive business with hired guard teams, and all personnel attending the wedding are required to sign confidentiality agreements.
Dua and Callum fell in love with Sicily during holiday last summer and he is often photographed wearing the famous pink and black jersey of the city’s football club.
They also attended the wedding of Charli
Weddings have made Sicily the wedding destination of the year, according to Conde Nast, and bookings for the sun-kissed Mediterranean island are said to be through the roof.
A source in Palermo said: ‘Everyone has been talking about this wedding for days. It will be very cool and grand with so many showbiz stars.
‘We all have a soft spot for Dua because she always speaks so highly of the city and loves wearing the football jersey of her city club.
‘But things are very heavily guarded, with screens coming up and people having to sign confidentiality agreements.’
Katie Hind spills the secrets of Dua Lipa’s SECOND wedding party exclusively in the Spotlight newsletter Tuesday. To read Here
