Last minute preparations are under way for the society wedding of the year between billionaire Apple heiress Eve Jobs and Team GB Olympic gold medal-winning equestrian Harry Charles.
The otherwise sleepy Cotswolds village of Great Tew will be overrun by celebrities, and the great and the good from the worlds of sport, fashion, and technology on Saturday . World leaders are expected to attend and there may also be a spattering of royalty as the couple tie the knot at the 12th century picture postcard St Michael and All Angels church in the village.
Eve, 27, and sportsman Harry, 26, got engaged last September and began dating in 2022, making their debut just a year ago at the Paris Olympic Games.
© InstagramThe Jobs family are said to be splashing out a staggering £5 million on the glittering four-day affair.
Sources have confirmed that Sir Elton John is being paid £1 million to perform on Saturday evening at the crescendo of the reception party on a specially built stage constructed over the past week within the 84-acre grounds of celebrity favourite Estelle Manor in Oxfordshire.
Preparations
Eve's mother Laurene, who was left a widow following Jobs' passing in 2011 aged 56 from pancreatic cancer, is said to have gone 'all out' for the wedding with help from renowned society events planner, Stanlee Gatti.
On Friday, a team of 20 set designers and florists dressed the interior of the Norman church with huge orbs covered in hundreds of fresh red roses. Inside the church, roses were placed on the end of each of the pews, beech tree branches lined the nave, 101 candles were placed on the alter and two £15,000 Persian rugs run along the aisle.
© Joan Wakeham/Shutterstock"The whole wedding has been organised like a film production," said a source today. "There are some big names expected. Some of them have their own security teams. It’s being planned with military precisions. I have never seen anything like it. The whole village will pretty much be on lock down tomorrow," said a security source at the church.
Catering trucks, and lorries containing set design materials and luxury table ware have been streaming in and out of Estelle Manor's imposing black and gold wrought iron gates for the past two days.
© Getty ImagesOne from a company Palmbrokers brought "greenery hire, props and set dressing". The company specialises in dressing venues for weddings with "wedding blossom trees", creating walkways lined with "summer wedding planting" and ‘"wedding wisteria" for encircling summer wedding marquees. They also offer a special "Wedding Wishing Tree" strewn with sparkling silver garlands.
Despite the huge amount of preparation, the happy couple are understood to have paid the standard £675 fee to be married at the church. The vicar, Canon William Burke, explained: "They paid a flat fee for the wedding. We are not allowed to charge more or less."
Schedule for the big day
On Thursday, the couple completed a final dress rehearsal at the church ahead of their upcoming nuptials this weekend. Eve and Harry were joined by their groomsmen and bridesmaids at St Michael's and All Angels for a 90-minute run through, directed by wedding planner Mr Gatti.
Parents of the bride and groom – Eve's mother Laurene and Harry's parents Peter and Tara – arrived in Great Tew by private limousine.
© Getty ImagesThe wedding ceremony itself is understood to be happening at around 2pm and will take around an hour tomorrow.
© Getty ImagesWho is she?
Born on July 9, 1998, in Palo Alto, California, the 27-year-old is the youngest daughter of Laurene Powell and the late Steve Jobs, one of Apple's co-founders. She has two older siblings, Reed (33), and Erin (29), who are expected to be involved in the wedding celebrations.
Education
Eve attended Upper Echelon Academy in Wellington, Florida, and in 2021, she graduated from Stanford University, having studied science and technology.
Equestrian career
She started riding horses at the age of six and later became a professional show-jumper. Some of her top achievements include competing in the World Cup Finals and Royal Windsor Horse Show. Unfortunately, her dreams of competing in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics were postponed because of COVID-19, which led to her focusing on her modelling.
Modelling It girl
Eve made her runway debut for the Paris-based fashion brand Coperni and has since worked with designers such as Louis Vuitton, appeared in a Glossier ad campaign, and graced the cover of Vogue Japan. Her style of modelling leans towards the luxury side and also reflects her equestrian elegance, mirroring her two passions.
Net worth?
She is estimated to have a net worth ranging between $500,000 and £1 million - primarily earned through her modeling contracts and equestrian endeavors.
Guests will be ferried in a fleet of blacked out limousines back to the Estelle Manor venue for a full night of entertainment and a fabulous dinner with the customary speeches, ending with Sir Elton's set and a DJ afterwards filling a dance floor into the early hours.
A-list guest list
Former US Vice President Kamala Harris is tipped to be among the VIP guests, as is Princess Beatrice. Kamala hosted a dinner party ahead of the wedding at The Bull pub in nearby Charlbury on Wednesday evening. Locals spoke of their shock at the colossal security presence with US secret service personnel swarming around the venue.
Sources say they believe that newly-ensconced Cotswolds locals Ellen DeGeneres and Portia De Rossi will be present at the wedding because her friend Kamala is also a prominent name on the list. Also making the VIP guestlist are Kamala's daughter, Phoebe, and Bill Gates's daughter, Jennifer.
© Ethan MillerThey will be joined by celebs including Arctic Monkeys star Matt Helders, Bruce Springsteen's daughter, Jessica - an equestrian, Apple designer Jony Ive, Sofia Abramovich, daughter of ex-Chelsea owner Roman. Former British Prime Minister David Cameron, who has a country house in the village next to Great Tew is rumoured to be going.
A-listers have been flown into nearby Oxford airport in their private jets, where they have been met by helicopters to transport them to the venue.
© Anthony Harvey/ShutterstockEve, a model and show jumper in her own right, has two older siblings and one half-sibling. Reed Jobs, 33, and Erin Jobs, 29, will likely be at the wedding. However it's currently not known if her half sibling Lisa Brennan-Jobs, 47, will attend.
On top of Eve's impressive connections, Harry has his own entourage who will surely bring the party. His father is Peter Charles, whose team won Britain's first team jumping gold medal for 60 years at the 2012 London Summer Olympics. His Olympic teammates Scott Brash and Ben Maher may also attend, having claimed victory in team jumping together at the Paris Olympics.
Relationship history
Eve and Harry meanwhile were first spotted in public together at last year's Olympic Games in Paris - where Harry bagged a gold medal in team jumping. The pair have kept their relationship largely private, but their shared love for equestrian sports is likely what brought them together.
Eve, whose mother is the philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs, is a rising star in both equestrian sport and fashion. She has appeared in campaigns for Louis Vuitton and posed for Vogue while maintaining a competitive showjumping career.
© InstagramHarry, son of former Olympic showjumper Peter Charles, has represented Great Britain internationally and is currently one of the sport's top-ranked athletes.
The couple share a passion for horses and are frequently seen supporting each other at events.
