Michael Schumacher’s daughter Gina will get married later this year at the family’s luxury villa in Majorca, it has been reported.
The 26-year-old will tie the knot with 27-year-old boyfriend Iain Bethke this summer, island press say. Majorcan daily Ultima Hora, citing German magazine Bunte as the source of the information, says a wedding planner from northern Germany has been hired to put the ‘finishing touches’ on the celebration.
It says the couple will say ‘yes’ under an arch of flowers at the villa seven-times F1 world champion Schumacher’s wife is understood to have bought in 2017 from Real Madrid president Florentino Perez.
A country music band will play live music in the evening at the open-air ceremony, according to the reports. Male guests will be asked to attend the wedding ceremony and subsequent party in suits but told they don’t have to wear ties because of the high temperatures expected on the day.
Horse enthusiasts Gina and Iain went official with their relationship just over six years ago. They stepped out at an awards ceremony in Munich in December 2017.
Michael Schumacher’s daughter Gina, 26, will marry her boyfriend Iain Bethke this summer in Majorca
Gina and Bethke pictured at an awards dinner in Germany in 2017, shortly after going official
Gina shared a picture on Instagram earlier this week wishing Michael a happy 55th birthday
In September last year Michael’s daughter shared a new photo on her Instagram account with her boyfriend.
The reports about the wedding have not specified whether Michael, who turned 55 on January 3 days after the tenth anniversary of his tragic ski accident, will attend.
In September 2020 it was claimed Schumacher was spending time at the villa in Majorca. Spanish press said he had been moved to the exclusive property on the upmarket estate of Las Brisas near Andratx in the south-west of the island from his Swiss home.
Spanish press including respected Majorcan daily Diario de Mallorca and Catalan daily La Vanguardia published their reports after ex-Formula 1 team boss and former QPR co-owner Flavio Briatore’s ex-wife Elisabetta Gregoraci claimed: ‘Michael doesn’t speak, he communicates with his eyes.
‘Only three people can visit him and I know who they are.’
Speaking on the Italian version of Big Brother the brunette added, in comments echoed by Spanish press: ‘They moved to Spain and his wife has set up a hospital in that house.’
German tabloid Bild first linked the F1 legend to Florentino Perez’s Majorca mansion in July 2018, saying Corinna had purchased it for €30 million (£27m) so she could spend holidays there with her children and friends.
The house was bought by building magnate Perez in 2005 but he put it up for sale in 2017 after the death of his wife Mari Angeles Sandoval.
The villa is part of a 15,000 square metre estate which boasts two swimming pools, a helipad, a gym and a huge palm-tree-fringed garden.
Schumacher, the only driver in history to win seven F1 World Championships, was placed in a medically-induced coma after a life-threatening skiing accident in December 2013 in the French Alps.
He was relocated to the family home on the shores of Lake Geneva in September 2014. Updates on his health have been few and far between.
Gina and her brother Mick wished their dad happy birthday this week with touching messages as he turned 55. Gina wrote on Instagram: ‘Happy Birthday Papa! throwback to one of many of our adventures.’
The post was accompanied by an image of her and her brother as children with the Formula One legend.
Mick, 24, wrote: ‘Happy birthday to the best Dad ever. Love you!’ The message showed a photo of them both wearing helmets, with a young Mick smiling and holding his thumb up as Michael looked lovingly towards him.
Schumacher’s ex-Formula One team Mercedes also posted a birthday message urging him to ‘keep fighting’.
Michael’s younger brother Ralf, who was also a F1 driver, told German newspaper Bild last week: ‘Nothing is like before.’ He added: ‘I miss my Michael from back then. Life is sometimes unfair. Michael had been lucky many times in his life, but then the tragic accident happened.
Reports claim Schumacher has spent time at the Majorca villa as part of his recovery from a horrific skiing accident, which left him in a medically-induced coma more than 10 years ago
Schumacher’s wife Corinna (pictured together in 2005) reportedly bought the villa from Real Madrid president Florentino Perez for £27million in July 2018
‘Fortunately, modern medicine has made it possible to do some things.’
His wife Corinna offered a rare insight on her husband’s state in a Netflix documentary in 2021.
She admitted: ‘I miss Michael every day. ‘But it is not just me who misses him. It’s the children, the family, his father, everyone around him. I mean, everybody misses Michael, but Michael is here.
‘Different, but he’s here, and that gives us strength. We’re together. We live together at home.’