With a back catalogue including ballads such as Can You Feel The Love Tonight? and Your Song, Sir Elton John is the perfect choice for many brides picking the music for their first dance.
But when your father is Formula 1 billionaire Bernie Ecclestone, why settle for a simple recording when you can have the Rocket Man himself?
Tamara Ecclestone, the motorracing tycoon’s 28-year-old daughter, has offered Sir Elton £1 million plus expenses to perform for guests when she marries former City trader Jay Rutland this summer.
It would see the Oscar-winning singer top a star-studded line-up of performers including Lionel Richie and DJ Calvin Harris at what is shaping up to be one of the biggest society weddings of the year.
More than 150 guests, including Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie and their mother Sarah Ferguson, will be flown to the South of France on a chartered jet for the three-day wedding at the Grand Hotel Du Cap Ferrat on June 10. The bride, whose father is worth £2.5 billion, and her husband-to-be have block-booked all 73 rooms of the luxury hotel at a cost of £600,000.
Yesterday hotel staff said it would be closed for three days for ‘a private event’ until June 13.
Last night a spokesman for Sir Elton declined to comment on the offer. A source said: ‘At this point in time there is no agreement. Elton is looking at the dates, but at the moment he’s not sure they will work. No contract has been signed yet.
‘For £1 million plus expenses he can do anything from an hour-and- a-half down to four songs and Happy Birthday. Often you don’t do these things with the whole band. It’s a young crowd, so they’ll want something different.’
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Sir Elton has a three-year residency deal at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas with his show, The Million Dollar Piano, and is due to perform there on May 11 before taking a month-long break.
According to his website, his return performance will be on June 15, when he is due at the Stars Of Sounds Festival in Switzerland.
In recent years wedding performances have become a lucrative sideline for Sir Elton, who usually donates his fee to his charity, The Elton John Aids Foundation.
Last October the star, who is worth an estimated £240 million, performed at the LA wedding of actress Holly Valance and billionaire Nick Candy.
Miss Ecclestone began dating Essex-based businessman Mr Rutland, 31, in January. They announced their engagement last month.
Tamara is planning to get married at the luxurious Grand Hotel Du Cap Ferrat (above) in France
A spokesman for Miss Ecclestone last night declined to comment.
News of the wedding offer came as Sir Elton revealed he has asked eccentric singer Lady Gaga – already godmother to his first son Zachary – to repeat the role for his second, Elijah, born in January.
Speaking on a US TV show, the singer said: ‘She’s a great role model. We’re all bonkers in this business but we’re human beings at the same time. There is a real simple person under there who loves her parents.’
Sir Elton’s partner David Furnish added: ‘[Our kids] are going to inherit an incredible musical legacy and she’s a good person to guide them through the music business.’
Fiance: Ex-City trader Jay Rutland is due to marry Tamara Ecclestone in June