An ugly family row unfolded behind the pomp and glitz of the Arun Nayar-Elizabeth Hurley wedding spectacle last month, it has now been revealed by Arun’s father, Vinod Nayar.
In an interview to The Mail on Sunday, the 66-year-old Nayar claimed he had been physically evicted from the wedding venue at Umaid Bhavan Palace in Jodhpur. As 200-odd guests watched astonished, “an unseemly wrestling bout” ensued as Vinod resisted being thrown out by security.
Vinod has revealed that his 87-year-old mother — Arun’s grandmother — Kailash was not invited to the wedding. Nor had the bride cared to wear the 35,000-pound diamond and ruby necklace Vinod had given her as a wedding gift.
Vinod says he has since disowned his son, whom he considers complicit in his humiliation. But his real anger is reserved for Hurley. “I believe it was done expressly at Elizabeth’s orders. Maybe she did not want my side of the family there. It was important for her to get celebrity faces. That’s what the deal with Hello! Magazine was all about. She was fulfilling her contractual obligation.” Hello! I paid 2 million pounds for exclusive rights to cover the wedding. “My wife Joanna (Arun’s stepmother) and I were treated like social outcasts,” says Vinod.