Madonna celebrated her 67th birthday over the weekend in Tuscany, Italy, surrounded by four of her children and celebrity friends.
The seven-time Grammy-winning “Like a Prayer” singer was photographed on Saturday (16 August) at the historic Palio di Siena horse race in the city of Siena, watching the festivities from a balcony with her family.
Pictured with her at the event was her boyfriend, Akeem Morris, 28, her eldest daughter Lourdes Leon, 28, her son Rocco Ritchie, 25, and twins Stella and Estere, 12.
Also spotted watching the race from separate balconies were British singer Sting, 73, and Oscar-winning Theory of Everything actor Eddie Redmayne, 43, most recently seen playing an assassin in The Day of the Jackal.
Police frontman Sting, real name Gordon Sumner, sported a grey baseball cap and blue shirt as he caught a glimpse of the gripping action, while Redmayne was all smiles in a zip polo shirt.
The event has taken place in the Piazza del Campo in Siena twice a year since the 17th Century, with the first formal race taking place in 1633.
It sees 10 riders representing the different neighbourhoods in the city, adhering to strict rules: they must ride with only a set of reins and a racing whip.
The race was created as a way of finding a sporting champion from the different neighbourhoods of the city, and each year it sees thousands of locals and tourists arrive in the stands.
Days before Madonna’s 67th birthday, she marked her son Rocco’s birthday with a post on social media urging her followers and fans to support children “caught in the crossfire” in Gaza.
She wrote: “Politics cannot affect change. Only consciousness can. Therefore I am reaching out to a man of God.”
“Today is my Son Rocco's birthday. I feel the best gift I can give to him as a Mother – is to ask everyone to do what they can to help save the innocent children caught in the crossfire in Gaza.”
She said she was not “placing blame” or “taking sides”, adding: “Everyone is suffering. Including the mothers of the hostages. I pray that they are released as well. I am merely trying to do what I can to keep these children from dying of starvation.”
Madonna shares her daughter Lourdes with the actor and personal trainer Carlos Leon, and her son Rocco with British film director Guy Ritchie. Her adoptive children are David, 19, Mercy, 16, and twins Stella and Estere, 12.
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