Francesca Packer-Barham is set to walk down the aisle in a matter of months.
And the billionaire heiress is opting for some esoteric touches to her ceremony, a new report claims.
The 31-year-old will marry fiancé Robert Bates in Spain, with the wedding set to take place under a full moon, the Daily Telegraph reported this week.
Packer planned the three-day event to align with the lunar cycle, with the festivities ending on the night of July 29, when the full moon emerges.
The plans are inspired by Packer’s ‘interest in spirituality and crystals’, the publication alleges.
Ahead of the big day, Packer will reportedly celebrate at a hens’ party in Majorca on June 16, with the ‘unconventional’ event combining both the hens and bucks nights.
Francesca Packer-Barham is opting for some esoteric touches to her wedding ceremony, a new report claims. The 31-year-old will marry fiancé Robert Bates in Spain. Both pictured
It will be an ‘intimate’ occasion despite Packer’s fame, due to the war in Iran making travel difficult for some of the socialite’s A-list friends.
‘Things feel very volatile at the moment. People don’t want to get stuck at airports or stranded overseas if the situation escalates,’ a source tells the Daily Telegraph.
Guests will include Packer’s mother Gretel and grandmother Ros, as well as close friends Ian Stewart, Joshua Penn and Benjamin Palmer.
The granddaughter of late media mogul Kerry Packer – as well as daughter of Gretel and English financier Nick Barham, and niece of James Packer – has been dating the controversial wellness CEO, 46, since 2022.
While the pair have yet to publicly confirm an engagement, Packer has hinted at it through a second Instagram account seemingly dedicated to a forthcoming marriage.
She is following a page titled ‘Francesca & Robert’, complete with a ring emoji.
‘We can’t wait to celebrate with you!’ the bio reads.
But while some may have private concerns about the engagement between Bates and Packer given his history of controversy, one family friend gave the couple the benefit of the doubt.
‘[Francesca] is really kind and giving and I know that if she’s engaged to this man, then she sees the good in him,’ the well-placed source told the Daily Mail.
Packer planned the three-day event to align with the lunar cycle, with the festivities ending on the night of July 29, when the full moon emerges
The plans are inspired by Packer’s ‘interest in spirituality and crystals’, the publication alleges
‘I wish her all the happiness. She’s a very smart, intelligent woman. I think that if she’s made that decision, she deserves love and everyone should let her get on with it.
‘At the end of the day, who’s right is it to comment on who she chooses to spend the rest of her life with?
‘Just because she’s a billionaire doesn’t mean she owes anyone anything. She deserves happiness just like the rest of us.’
Packer and Bates were first spotted together when he attended her 28th birthday party in November 2022.
Bates was last in a relationship with his former business partner Emma Gibson, but they split in early 2022, before he began seeing Packer.
The exes, who were together for five years, landed in the #36 spot on the Young Rich List in 2020, with a combined worth of $145 million.
But since then, Bates – a former student at the elite Cranbrook School where Packer’s uncle was famously sent – has become a contentious figure following the failure of wellness start-ups Aquamamma and Aurum+.
Aurum+ claimed to be a ‘clinically-proven solution that treats and prevents mental health conditions such as stress, anxiety and depression’, while Aquamamma was a ‘healthy hydration solution’ for pregnant and breastfeeding women.
Both companies have since closed down.
