Lady Gaga, the British billionaire and the wedding that led to a storm on Lake Como

A British billionaire hired Lady Gaga to sing at a lavish wedding celebration on the shores of Lake Como in northern Italy, amid controversy over the closure of the venue to the public for a month.

The American singer wore a shimmering silver gown for her private performance to celebrate the marriage of 58-year-old Alan Howard, a hedge fund manager reputed to be worth $3.2 billion, and Caroline Byron, 33.

The nuptials on Sunday evening were attended by around 250 guests, including the singer Pixie Lott and her new husband, Oliver Cheshire, and Victoria Silvstedt, the Swedish model and actress.

She posted photos and video of Lady Gaga’s performance on Instagram, saying she was “totally starstruck”.

The party was held at Villa Olmo, a sprawling 18th-century palace that is owned by the town of Como, and which is popular with local dog owners and joggers, as well as the droves of foreign tourists who descend on Como year-round.

Mr Howard, one of Britain's richest men, reportedly paid the council €1.3 million to rent the property and its surrounding gardens, which were then closed off to the public from early this month. The council justified renting out the villa by saying it was earning valuable income which would pay for local services.

But many locals were unhappy that they could no longer access the park and villa, located on the shores of Lake Como.

“We could have understood the villa being closed for two or three days to host a cultural event,” one local man told Corriere della Sera newspaper on Monday. “But a public asset like this should not be closed off for a month. Rich people should not be able to buy whatever they want.”

Davide Cantoni, from Comozero, a local news publication, said: “I would say most of the town was against the closure. We’ve had events at Villa Olmo like this in the past, including one for Dolce and Gabbana, but they lasted just a few days. This was totally different - the palazzo was closed to the public on June 6 and it is not due to reopen until July 6, once everything has been dismantled.

“For us, the villa and the gardens are a little jewel, one of the few green spaces in Como where people go to run, to sunbathe, perhaps to meditate,” he told The Telegraph. “Closing to the public for a month, in the middle of the summer season, was really too much.”

Earlier this month a demonstration was held against the closure of the palazzo, with protesters saying that the decision went against the Italian constitution, which is meant to protect publicly owned cultural heritage sites.

“The council’s decision to give Villa Olmo to a person who can pay more than a million euros is a contravention of the constitution,” the protesters said. “It goes against the inhabitants of Como, who live here and who pay taxes.”

One protester, Luigi Nessi, said: “A tycoon is allowed to enjoy a part of the town’s heritage that is the fruit of centuries of work, while locals are kept out behind fences. The town has been sold off.”

It was not known how much the wedding celebrations cost but Lady Gaga - real name Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta - is reported to ask for around $1 million for private performances. She wore a silver sequined dress with a plunging neckline and thigh-high slit.

The singer and actress knows the Lake Como area well – she spent time there a year ago filming scenes for the blockbuster film House of Gucci, based on the true story of an Italian socialite who paid an assassin to murder her husband, an heir to the Gucci fortune.

Three rooms in the palazzo were reportedly devoted to the singer - one for her to sleep in and two for her wardrobe.

Mr Howard and Ms Byron, who is American, reportedly got married two years ago but were unable to throw a big party for friends and family because of the pandemic.

With travel restrictions now eased across most of the world, they chose the neo-classical Villa Olmo, which was built between 1782 and 1797. It has been owned by local authorities since the 1920s.

Guests arrived in sleek motor launches, disembarking at a specially built jetty in front of the villa. Their union was celebrated beneath a huge floral wedding arch and at the end of the evening there was an extravagant fireworks display.

Lake Como is famously home to another Hollywood star - George Clooney. The actor and director has had an 18th century waterfront house in the village of Laglio for years - first as a bachelor and now with his Oxford-educated, British-Lebanese wife, Amal Alamuddin, and their twins. The pair married in Venice in 2014.

Clooney’s low-key profile and discretion has made him a favourite with locals, with the mayor of the lakeside village often issuing ordinances to protect his privacy.

Mr Howard may not be a household name but he has made a fortune since founding a hedge fund, Brevan Howard Asset Management, 20 years ago.

Forbes puts his wealth at $3.2 billion, noting that “the firm was once one of the world’s top macro hedge funds, with assets under management peaking at $40 billion in 2013.”

Educated at Imperial College, London, he is ranked as the 951st wealthiest billionaire in the world.

Mr Howard stepped down as chief executive officer three years ago “to focus solely on investing and to give portfolio managers more autonomy,” according to Forbes.

He has used his wealth to fund homeless charities and scholarly research into the Holocaust and has also donated money to the Conservative party.

The hedge fund manager owns a villa on the shores of Lake Como and over the years has made generous donations to local causes.

In 2018 he gave 330,000 euros towards the sprucing up of a pedestrian area in the village of Bellagio. In total he has donated around 600,000 euros to the local community.