Portofino, storm for the pre-wedding party of the Indian offspring Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant which made the village inaccessible
It caused quite a stir there pre-wedding party organized a Portofino for the wedding of the scions of two wealthy Indian families: Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant.
The event immobilized the well-known Ligurian town which welcomed many VIP guests, including Andrea Bocelli who was called to perform for the occasion. The party sparked several controversieswith Massimo Maugeri, a leading exponent of Legambiente Liguria, who became the spokesperson for the discontent.
Portofino and the Indian wedding: the controversy
The mayor of Portofino Matteo Viacava had announced the event through social media with the following post: “After careful evaluation, Mayor Matteo Viacava together with the council, decided to enthusiastically welcome the proposal presented by the organizers of this unique event. From 5pm onwards, access to Portofino will be guaranteed only to those entitled”.
The post sparked several controversies and regarding Portofino’s mobilization for the pre-wedding party of the two Indians, he expressed all his disappointment Massimo Maugeri who, in addition to covering an important role in Legambiente Liguria, is a member of the Portofino Park Community:
“What has happened in recent days with the privatization of the square is unacceptable and is a bad precedent for the country – the words of Maugeri reported by ‘Repubblica’ – The square is the agora par excellence, it is the center of the polis both from an economic and social point of view”.
Maugeri, regarding the event organized in Portofino, which has become the richest municipality in Italy, then explained that “Privatisation, even if temporary, for a private event is a terrible precedent. When the administration temporarily sells public space, depriving access to the citizen who is its true owner, we have reduced democracy.”
The mayor was also and above all criticized for his decision to return private, albeit temporarily, a public area of Portofino: “The problem is not only the ban on access for those who have a boat, a house or a home – declared Maugeri – the problem is the temporary expropriation of the public space to private purposes. If the mayor of Rome did this for Piazza Navona, what would happen? This is why it is a bad precedent which, in a moment of discouragement regarding the values of politics and those who practice it, fuels the division of society.
“What happened reminds us of Alberto Sordi in Marquis del Grillo, I am me and you are nothing. Not only are you nothing but we can do whatever we want. Everything is allowed for those who have money with the complacency of power. We threw the ‘party’ for democracy.”
The bride and groom: Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant
As mentioned, the pre-wedding party in Portofino was organized in view of the wedding of the scions of two wealthy Indian families. On the one hand there is Anant Ambanison of Mukesh Ambani: he is the president and CEO of Reliance Industries Limited, he is considered the richest man in India and is a regular presence in the rankings of the richest men in the world.
The bride is Radhika Merchant, in turn the daughter of a very rich entrepreneur: Viren Merchant, owner of a large pharmaceutical company. Anant and Radhika met in 2017 and developed the idea of getting married in 2023: the wedding was set for July 12 in Mumbai, a city in India which boasts one of the 20 unmissable restaurants on the planet. The wedding promises to be full of VIP guests: among the guests there would also be Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates, while there is a lot of talk about performances by two great queens of international pop such as Katy Perry And Rihanna.
