MORE details have been revealed about tennis ace Rafael Nadal’s wedding to his childhood sweetheart, Meri Perelló this autumn, even though the couple has been trying to keep as much as possible a secret.
They became engaged last May in Rome, although having been together since Meri was 16 and Rafa 19, they did not appear in a hurry to tie the knot.
But in January, ¡Hola! magazine revealed they were due to wed this year on their native island of Mallorca – a leak which annoyed Nadal.
Reporters later said that his neighbours in Manacor refused to reveal anything, as they were aware Rafa and Meri were a ‘very private couple’, and said that to them, the world number two tennis star was ‘just another local resident’ they ‘passed the time with in the street’.
Even though the venue and the date – the Fortaleza estate in Manacor on October 19 – have now been revealed in the world’s media, security will be watertight, so there will be no chance of fans gatecrashing or the paparazzi catching stealthy snaps.
It was originally thought Meri and Rafa would be having a small, quiet wedding in keeping with their preference for staying out of the spotlight, but it has been reported this week that some of their most high-profile friends, including Spanish tennis greats Feliciano López and Fernando Verdasco, are on the guest list – and even the Rex Emeritus King Juan Carlos I, with whom Nadal is said to have ‘an excellent relationship’.
The reception will be at the Fortaleza estate at midday after the ceremony which, according to information leaked in May, will be at a ‘private but spacious’ abbey in the north of the island with nearly 600 guests and the food prepared by celebrity chef Quique Dacosta.
Dacosta, who has three Michelin stars and eponymous restaurants in Valencia and in Dénia (Alicante province), will prepare two menus, one meat and one fish, showcasing typically-Mallorcan dishes – although Nadal, who is on an extremely strict dietary régime because of his profession and which he will not even break for his big day, will be on low-fat, healthy dishes made up mostly of vegetables.
Meri was 14 and a school friend of Rafa’s little sister Maribel Nadal Parera when they met, and he was 17, but they did not start going out until she was in sixth form and he had just left school.
Their relationship is about as unstarry as it is possible to be: neither has ever had another serious partner, they have been together for 14 years and Meri works for her future husband’s charitable foundation as project developer alongside its chairwoman, Rafa’s mum Ana María Parera.
Meri accompanies Rafa on every tour wherever he plays in the world, but has never lived anywhere other than the island of Mallorca – both were born in Manacor, Nadal’s fiancée studied her business degree at the university in Palma, and she worked in the same city before getting the job with the Rafael Nadal Foundation, firstly in the PR department at electricity board Endesa, then as assistant office manager at MAPFRE insurance.
