Tried to Rent Out Entire Disneyland for a Wedding
Ceremony Halted Immediately When 9-Year-Old Girl Appeared as Bride
British Man in His 20s Claims "It Was for Filming Purposes"
A fake wedding ceremony with a 9-year-old child as the bride was attempted at Disneyland in France but was halted.
A 9-year-old girl attempted to hold a wedding ceremony with a British man in his 20s at Disneyland Paris, but the event was stopped. Disneyland Paris official website
According to the French daily newspaper Le Parisien, a foreign man tried to rent out the entire Disneyland Paris in Marne-la-Vall?e, near Paris, to hold a wedding ceremony, but the event was stopped by Disney staff.
The event was scheduled for the morning of the 21st (local time). However, Disney employees on site noticed something was wrong when they realized the bride was a 9-year-old girl, and immediately intervened to stop the ceremony. As a result, about 100 guests were unable to enter, and the event was canceled.
According to reports, the ceremony was planned to take place outside of regular park hours. Disneyland stated, "A serious irregularity was discovered on site, so we immediately halted the event," adding, "We reported the incident to the police, are cooperating with the investigation, and have also filed a complaint."
The Meaux prosecutor's office in France is investigating four people: the 22-year-old British man who organized the event and played the groom, the 41-year-old Ukrainian woman who is the bride's mother, the 55-year-old Latvian man who acted as the bride's father, and the 24-year-old Latvian woman who acted as the bride's sister.
Prosecutors stated that medical examinations found no evidence of physical abuse or coercive acts against the child, and concluded that the incident was a "staged filming." Most of the guests were also found to be hired actors.
The male organizer claimed that he is a video producer and that the event was simply for filming purposes. However, it was reported that Disney staff and others on site were not aware of this.
One witness said, "I never heard anyone mention filming; everyone believed it was a real wedding," adding, "Disney responded very quickly, and that was the right thing to do."
Of the four people arrested, the 9-year-old girl's mother and the man who played the 'bride's father' were released without charges, but the event organizer and the Latvian woman remain in custody on charges of fraud and money laundering.
Local police are still investigating the details of the incident.
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