British singer Lily Allen married 'Stranger Things' actor David Harbour in a small ceremony at the Graceland Chapel in Las Vegas in September 2020. Instagram / David Harbour
British singer Lily Allen married 'Stranger Things' actor David Harbour in a small ceremony at the Graceland Chapel in Las Vegas in September 2020. Instagram / David Harbour
British singer Lily Allen married 'Stranger Things' actor David Harbour in a small ceremony at the Graceland Chapel in Las Vegas in September 2020. Instagram / David Harbour
British singer Lily Allen married 'Stranger Things' actor David Harbour in a small ceremony at the Graceland Chapel in Las Vegas in September 2020. Instagram / David Harbour

6 celebrity weddings in 2020: Lily Allen, Sean Penn, a cricket star and royalty


Farah Andrews
  • English
  • Arabic

Since March, weddings have been few and far between, due to regulations on large groups and gatherings put in place to curb the spread of Covid-19.

However, we have had a few stunning A-list weddings to pore over until normal (and typically extravagant) service is resumed.

Many of them have been socially distanced, some got in just before restrictions were put in place, but all of them glow with newlywed happiness ...

Lily Allen and David Harbour 

British singer Lily Allen, 35, married Stranger Things actor David Harbour, 45, in an intimate Las Vegas ceremony on Wednesday, September 9.

The couple's ceremony took place at the Graceland Chapel Las Vegas, with a guitar-playing Elvis Presley impersonator officiating.

See photos that the couple have shared from their big day here: 

"In a wedding officiated by the king himself, the people’s princess wed her devoted, low-born but kind credit-card holder in a beautiful ceremony lit by the ashen skies courtesy of a burning state miles away in the midst of a global pandemic," American actor Harbour wrote of the nuptials in a tongue-in-cheek Instagram post.

With Allen's two daughters, Marnie Rose, 7, and Ethel, 8, the couple ate at popular American fast food chain In-N-Out Burger, which Harbour referenced when he wrote: "Refreshments were served at a small reception following."

LDN singer Allen's wedding dress was a tailored 1960s-style Dior design, with double-breasted black buttons. The knee-length dress was a departure from the 1920s-style lace gown that she wore when she married ex-husband Sam Cooper in 2011.

Allen paired her Dior dress with a simple veil and a pair of chunky black heels, and carried a simple pink and white floral bouquet.

Dasun Shanaka and Chewanthi Perera

Sri Lankan cricketer Dasun Shanaka married fashion designer Chewanthi Perera on Sunday, September6.

Shanaka wrote on Instagram: "Today I promise to hold your hand and to lead you down a path of all that is good and true in this world."

The wedding took place at Avenra Gardens in Sri Lanka's Negombo, located north of Colombo on the west of the island.

There were numerous outfit changes and a big party celebration, all of which was captured by photographer Pamod Nilru.

Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi

British royal Princess Beatrice had grand plans for a Buckingham Palace wedding in May, however, that was quashed when social distancing measures were put in place in the UK.

However, on July 17, the couple did marry in a small private ceremony at the Royal Chapel of All Saints at Royal Lodge. Princess Beatrice's grandparents, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, were both in attendance. The bride wore a vintage wedding dress loaned to her by the Queen.

Sean Penn and Leila George

American actor Sean Penn, 60, had "a Covid wedding" with Australian-American actress Leila George, 28.

The couple have not released photos of their big day, but the I Am Sam star confirmed that they had tied the knot.

"Yeah, we did a Covid wedding. By that, I mean it was a county commissioner on Zoom and we were at the house, my two children and her brother, and we did it that way," Penn told talk show host Seth Meyers during a conversation on Late Night With Seth Meyers in early August.

Jordan's Princess Raiyah and Ned Donovan

Jordan's Princess Raiyah bint Al Hussein, 34, married Roald Dahl's grandson, Ned Donovan, 26, in an intimate ceremony in the UK on July 8.

Guests sat at a distance from one another while the couple were formally married in order to adhere to social-distancing advice.

The couple were due to marry in Jordan in April, however, plans were put on hold because of the pandemic.

They didn't announce the date of their ceremony, but the bride tweeted pictures and thanks to well-wishers on July 7. In the message she wrote: "God willing we look forward to celebrating in Jordan once the situation allows."

Princess Raiyah is the daughter of the late King Hussein of Jordan and Queen Noor of Jordan, and is the half-sister of King Abdullah II of Jordan, who gave his blessing to the marriage.

The grandson of beloved British children's book author Roald Dahl, Donovan is a freelance journalist and has contributed to The Spectator, New Statesman and The Telegraph. His mother is Tessa Dahl and his father is entrepreneur Patrick Donovan. Donovan converted to Islam before the wedding and took the name Faris. He is currently learning Arabic.

Brittany Snow and Tyler Stanaland

Pitch Perfect actress Brittany Snow married luxury real estate agent Tyler Stanaland in early March, "before the world shut down".

"In early March, before we knew how much we’d miss hugs and live in our sweatpants, I got to marry my favourite person," Snow wrote on Instagram in a July post.

"The whole world shut down a few days later and we were stunned at the timing. We knew we felt incredibly lucky to have found each other but we had no idea how lucky it would be to get married right before a monumental time in our history. Everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong that day ... but it was absolutely and impossibly perfect. I knew on that day, more than ever before, there was no one else I’d rather hold my hand while in the middle of a (life) hurricane. I love you. You’re my dream come true".

The bride wore a lace, long-sleeved gown by Jonathan Simkhai.

Brief scores:

Manchester City 2

Gundogan 27', De Bruyne 85'

Crystal Palace 3

Schlupp 33', Townsend 35', Milivojevic 51' (pen)

Man of the Match: Andros Townsend (Crystal Palace)

The lowdown

Rating: 4/5

'Worse than a prison sentence'

Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.

“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.

“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.

“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.

“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.

“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting

2. Prayer

3. Hajj

4. Shahada

5. Zakat 

GOODBYE%20JULIA
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMohamed%20Kordofani%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESiran%20Riak%2C%20Eiman%20Yousif%2C%20Nazar%20Goma%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%205%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
MATCH DETAILS

Juventus 2 (Bonucci 36, Ronaldo 90 6)

Genoa 1 (Kouame 40)

LIVERPOOL SQUAD

Alisson Becker, Virgil van Dijk, Georginio Wijnaldum, James Milner, Naby Keita, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah, Joe Gomez, Adrian, Jordan Henderson, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Adam Lallana, Andy Lonergan, Xherdan Shaqiri, Andy Robertson, Divock Origi, Curtis Jones, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Neco Williams

The biog

Hometown: Cairo

Age: 37

Favourite TV series: The Handmaid’s Tale, Black Mirror

Favourite anime series: Death Note, One Piece and Hellsing

Favourite book: Designing Brand Identity, Fifth Edition

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

Like a Fading Shadow

Antonio Muñoz Molina

Translated from the Spanish by Camilo A. Ramirez

Tuskar Rock Press (pp. 310)

MATCH INFO

Manchester United 2
(Martial 30', McTominay 90 6')

Manchester City 0

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Profile box

Founders: Michele Ferrario, Nino Ulsamer and Freddy Lim
Started: established in 2016 and launched in July 2017
Based: Singapore, with offices in the UAE, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand
Sector: FinTech, wealth management
Initial investment: $500,000 in seed round 1 in 2016; $2.2m in seed round 2 in 2017; $5m in series A round in 2018; $12m in series B round in 2019; $16m in series C round in 2020 and $25m in series D round in 2021
Current staff: more than 160 employees
Stage: series D 
Investors: EightRoads Ventures, Square Peg Capital, Sequoia Capital India

War and the virus
The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting

2. Prayer

3. Hajj

4. Shahada

5. Zakat 

Aldar Properties Abu Dhabi T10

*November 15 to November 24

*Venue: Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi

*Tickets: Start at Dh10, from ttensports.com

*TV: Ten Sports

*Streaming: Jio Live

*2017 winners: Kerala Kings

*2018 winners: Northern Warriors

Defence review at a glance

• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”

• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems

• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.

• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%

• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade

• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels

Profile Box

Company/date started: 2015

Founder/CEO: Mohammed Toraif

Based: Manama, Bahrain

Sector: Sales, Technology, Conservation

Size: (employees/revenue) 4/ 5,000 downloads

Stage: 1 ($100,000)

Investors: Two first-round investors including, 500 Startups, Fawaz Al Gosaibi Holding (Saudi Arabia)

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE. 

Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE

 

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Lexus LX700h specs

Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor

Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm

Transmission: 10-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh590,000

The biog:

From: Wimbledon, London, UK

Education: Medical doctor

Hobbies: Travelling, meeting new people and cultures 

Favourite animals: All of them