Football superstar Gareth Bale has called off his wedding amid family turmoil and a rift involving his fiancee’s dad. Real Madrid ace Bale, 29, and childhood sweetheart Emma Rhys-Jones planned a star-studded Italian castle ceremony this summer. But they have postponed it until next summer after a “rollercoaster” year.
Footballer Gareth Bale has postponed his wedding to his childhood sweetheart blaming ‘family turmoil’. The Real Madrid star and fiancée Emma Rhys-Jones reportedly planned a star-studded ceremony in a historic castle in Tuscany, Italy, and wanted Beyonce as their wedding singer. But the pair have put off their big day until next summer after a ‘roller coaster’ year of joy and heartbreak.
The couple uninvited him from their wedding along with other family members who were involved in a missing suitcase containing £750,000 of drug money. Cars belonging to the grandparents and aunt of Emma were torched in 2016 while petrol was poured through another aunt’s home in north Wales.
It was understood to be part of a feud with a drugs gang after Emma’s cousin Epiphany Dring – a former glamour model – disappeared allegedly carrying a suitcase full of cash, plus drugs and watches believed to make the full contents worth around £1million.
A family source said Emma, 26, hopes it will give her chance to heal a rift with her former jailbird dad Martin Rhys-Jones, 54. The couple uninvited him along with other family members who were involved in a row over a missing suitcase containing £750,000 of drug money.
A family source said: ‘It’s been a rollercoaster for them over the last couple of years – especially Emma because it’s her flesh and blood. Some of her closest relatives were told they would not be going to the wedding. But a lot can happen in a year and we all hope that everyone has kissed and made up by then.’
A case with cash, cocaine, and watches went missing from her elderly grandparents’ home last year. Cars belonging to Emma’s aunts were also torched in Flint, North Wales. She and Wales star Bale believe the violent drugs feud which has engulfed her family will die down if they delay the wedding.
Emma is said to be secretly delighted by the postponement because it will give her time to get in shape after having the couple’s third baby, Axel.The source said: “There’s so much family turmoil right now — they want things to settle down before tying the knot. They are still very much in love but they’ve had a lot of issues to deal with.” The couple had tried to hire Beyonce as a £1.5m wedding singer as they prepared for a lavish big day.
During wedding planning Emma also received the horrible news that her sister’s partner Alexander Williams had been found dead. Bale’s brother-in-law killed himself while being investigated by social services over his children, an inquest was told earlier this year. Emma flew home from Spain to comfort former model Katie, 24, who had just given birth to her second child with Mr Williams.
Gareth and Emma, who met in school, planned home and away fixtures – a secret celebrity-ladened ceremony in Italy followed by a more homely affair for friends and relatives in the couple’s native Cardiff. Her relative said: ‘The plans were well advanced – Emma had even had fittings for her two wedding dresses.
Bale, who earns £15million a year, met Emma in Cardiff in their late teens. They have two daughters. Emma fell out with her dad after he moved in with a Russian florist half his age within weeks of being freed from jail in the US. He served six years for a £2million international fraud. During his sentence, he missed the birth of three grandchildren including Emma’s two daughters by Bale, Alba Violet, five, and Nava Valentina, two.