TALK OF THE TOWN: Petra Ecclestone flees Los Angeles to join Monaco’s jet-setters as billionaire heiress and her fiancé buy a luxury apartment in the tax haven
Oh to enjoy the freedom to live life like a billionaire heiress when things get tough…
After growing tired of Los Angeles, I hear Petra Ecclestone and her fiance Sam Palmer have relocated their young family to join the jet-setters of Monaco.
A friend tells me: ‘Petra was very much done with LA after dealing with the largest wildfire season in Californian history, the various political protests that have taken place on the streets and the country’s poor handling of the Covid crisis.’
‘Tired of LA’: Petra Ecclestone pictured with her fiance Sam Palmer attending the Maddox Gallery Los Angeles Presents: ‘The Disrupters’ by David Yarrow in June last year
Port de Fontvieille in Monaco, pictured. The couple have shipped everything to the tax haven across the Atlantic from their mansion in LA’s super-swanky Palisades district
Petra, 31, and Sam, 38, have bought a luxury apartment in the tax haven and have shipped everything across the Atlantic from their mansion in LA’s super-swanky Palisades district.
It’s a huge move for the whole family as the couple, their eight-month-old daughter and Petra’s three children by ex-husband James Stunt all up sticks.
And, of course, when you’re so wealthy, such a move also involves the transfer of legions of staff including assistants and security personnel.
The friend adds: ‘Petra and Sam flew to Switzerland in the summer to the Ecclestone estate to meet her father Bernie and her sister Tamara’s families for a holiday.
The sunset in Santa Monica, Los Angeles, California. The friend says: ‘Petra was very much done with LA after dealing with the largest wildfire season in Californian history’
‘A few weeks later in September, their house manager in LA told all the staff that they weren’t coming back and were off to Monaco permanently. It was completely out of the blue.’
I’m told Petra wants to be closer to her family in these strange times. Sam will be setting up an office in Monaco for his lucrative business which helps the super-rich manage their homes and staff, with plans to start working with European clients early next year.
My source adds: ‘Their new home is a luxury apartment with sea views – it really matches the outdoor lifestyle they love with their children.’
This will have lockdown hikers choking on their tea – Louis Vuitton is selling a Thermos flask for a staggering £1,310.
‘This is a luxury piece with a practical edge,’ says the brand’s blurb.
At that price I’d want it to pick me up and carry me!
Louis Vuitton is selling a Thermos flask, pictured above, for a staggering £1,310
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The 44-year-old star is worth a reported £75 million thanks in part to his megabucks stand-up show on Netflix. But it doesn’t impress Lucas, 15, and Oscar, 12.
Michael says: ‘I have only done this Netflix show to appear cool to them, but they watch other things. I am not a comedy star in their eyes. My teenage son thinks I am a very annoying person.’