So who are the Ambani dynasty behind the notable nuptials of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant? India’s richest man, and the tenth wealthiest in the world, Mukesh Ambani runs Reliance Industries (worth $110 billion according to Forbes), which has interests in energy, telecom, retail and financial services, and hopes to pivot towards green energy in the future. In true Succession style, the multi-billion mega company was established by Mukesh’s late father, Dhirubhai in 1966. Ambani’s three children joined the board of Reliance in August 2023. The groom-to-be and Mukesh’s youngest son, Anant, is in the energy side of the business.

The family has ties with the UK on several fronts. Firstly, 2019 saw Mukesh Ambani purchase the stalwart of the British high street, Hamleys, for an undisclosed sum. The Ambanis also own the grand Stoke Park in Buckinghamshire, which was reportedly bought for a grand sum of £57 million. The spectacular Georgian pile is a remarkable feat of British design, from the Capability Brown parklands to the James Wyatt architecture. The family home was turned into an English country club in 1908, where its members included Prince Albert. The property is a stone’s throw from Windsor and Cliveden, firmly placing the Ambanis in the centre of British countryside society life.

Their home in Mumbai is similarly regal, with an Indian-based socialite previously telling Tatler that their vast apartment block ‘looks nothing like Buckingham Palace but essentially it is Buckingham Palace in that it’s the most luxurious real estate in Mumbai and the general public will know the house.’ The ‘tower’, called Antilia, boasts a ballroom, a 50-seat theatre, a temple, three helipads, a 168-car garage and enough space for a staff of 600. The source goes on to explain that whilst ‘everyone in Mumbai knows who the Ambani family is,’ the family are reasonably private. Despite their auspiciousness, they apparently know how to host a good party.

Indeed, Anant’s elder sister Isha was married in 2018 with similarly fabulous surrounding events. The wedding reportedly cost $100 million, and included an engagement ceremony in Lake Como, a 16-piece ‘ghagra’ or embroidered skirt in pearly white and a very special ceremony in Mumbai, where entire streets leading up to the venue were adorned with thousands of fresh flowers in orange and red. The elder of the two brothers, Akash, had the British icons Coldplay perform at his wedding, Isha had none other than the Queen of Pop, Beyoncé.