A 22-year-old man believed to be British has been arrested in France after allegedly attempting to stage a wedding ceremony with a nine-year-old girl at Disneyland Paris.
Police were called to the theme park on Saturday morning after staff were left shocked when the young child arrived for the supposed ceremony accompanied by her family and around 100 guests. The event was said to have been organised before the park opened to the public.
Officers detained the man, who claimed to be the organiser, along with the girl's 41-year-old mother — believed to be Ukrainian — and two Latvian nationals, aged 55 and 24.
A statement from the prosecutor's office in Meaux, near Paris, said: “Four people were arrested and questioned: the groom, who was believed to be the organiser of the event and is presumed to be British and aged 22; the mother of the child, a 41-year-old Ukrainian woman; and two Latvian nationals aged 55 and 24.”
It added that police custody for the British suspect and one of the Latvian nationals had been extended on suspicion of fraud and money laundering.
A criminal investigation has now been opened. The prosecutor's office confirmed that a medical examination of the girl found she had not suffered any violence.
Officials said they had not ruled out that the entire event could have been a hoax, with guests possibly hired as “extras”. The man told police he ran a production company and that the ceremony was part of a video shoot.
Disneyland Paris confirmed the event was halted as soon as staff became aware of the child’s age. A spokesperson told Le Parisien newspaper that access to the venue was blocked and the event immediately shut down.
A guest who attended the supposed ceremony told Le Parisien: “We all thought we were going to attend a wedding… Everyone was stunned, no one expected it. Disneyland did things very well. They cancelled everything as soon as they realised the bride was a child. We were shocked to see that.”
The prosecutor’s office later explained to AFP: “So it wasn't a wedding, but a staged wedding filmed with around a hundred extras. They privatised Disneyland Paris, pretending it was a real wedding.”
