Last July, Dua Lipa shared a series of photos on Instagram while on holiday in Palermo with Callum Turner, the British actor she had become engaged to weeks earlier. In these photos, the pair appeared radiantly in love with each other – and the Sicilian capital.
There were pictures of the couple strolling through the city’s vibrant baroque alleys, admiring the ceiling frescoes in its striking cathedral and enjoying sunset boat trips. In another, a smiling Turner is holding a pair of ricotta-filled cannoli, the Sicilian dessert. One photo even captured the word ‘“amore” scrawled on a wall.
Now, rumours percolate that the couple might marry in Palermo this summer – possibly in June – and it’s unlikely anyone is more excited than Alessandro Minnone, the owner of Colletti, a bar in the city centre from where Dua Lipa posted pictures of herself shuffling cards and holding a Campari soda when the couple visited for an aperitivo.
“I was honoured to welcome her to my venue,” Minnone told the Guardian, describing Dua Lipa as “a very down-to-earth and warm person”.
“When I heard the news of her [possible] wedding here in Palermo, it was wonderful. I hope she comes back to my place. If she does not, that is fine too. As somebody from Palermo, I can only feel proud that an international star like her has decided to return – and even to get married here.”
Speculation over the pair’s nuptials has been rife since the newspaper Giornale di Sicilia claimed that a wedding planner had been hired to prepare the celebrations in Palermo, including booking an entire floor of suites at Villa Igiea, the five-star art nouveau hotel owned by the Rocco Forte Hotels group.
A source at Villa Igiea said that while rooms for the wedding guests had been reserved, the ceremony itself would not take place at the venue. The source also said that the rooms had been booked for June, contradicting reports that the wedding would be held 5-7 September.
A spokesperson for Dua Lipa did not respond to a request for comment and neither did Alessandra Grillo, the rumoured wedding planner who organised the 2018 celebrations in Sicily between Chiara Ferragni, an Italian influencer, and the rapper Fedez, her now ex-husband.
Even in the absence of an official confirmation, there has not been this amount of anticipation over a wedding in Italy since the star-studded shindig between the billionaire Amazon boss, Jeff Bezos, and Lauren Sánchez in Venice last June, an event that both enthralled and appalled.
But if the Bezos’ nuptials were called “wedding of the century” by the Italian press owing to the huge cost and domination of the city, this event one has merely been predicted as the “wedding of the year”.
La Repubblica suggested the bride might have chosen the inner courtyard of GAM, Palermo’s gallery for modern art, to exchange vows. The newspaper also cited the church of Santa Maria dello Spasimo, better known simply as the Spasimo and recently restored, as a possible venue, while local media suggested that Piazza Croce dei Vespri will play a central role, requiring the square to be completely cordoned off. The couple might soon return to the city to scout locations, according to reports.
Lipa, 30, first met Turner, 36, an actor widely tipped to be the frontrunner to play the next James Bond, in 2023, after being introduced at the River Cafe in west London. But the pair did not get together until a year later when their paths crossed at a restaurant in Los Angeles.
The singer’s love affair with Palermo, a city that has undergone a radical transformation over the last decade or so, also appears to have begun in 2023. That was the year Foot Locker Europe released a series of images of her wearing the pink shirt of Palermo football club to promote the “Puma Palermo” trainers. The pictures were shared by the Sicilian club’s social media accounts with the caption: “Dua Lipa knows what’s up! The Puma pink Palermo is the way to go.”
Needless to say, rumours that Lipa will wed in Palermo have been greeted by much excitement from local fans, with many hoping to meet her or catch a glimpse of her in a wedding dress.
“I can already imagine her in a white dress walking through the streets of Palermo,” said Iole, 13, adding that the city would “welcome her again with open arms”. “We can’t wait. The excitement is sky high: an international star chooses your city to celebrate one of the most important events of her life. How could we not feel honoured?”