Michael Schumacher is set to become a grandfather after his daughter Gina announced she is pregnant with her husband Iain Bethke’s baby.
Gina shared the news with fans on her Instagram page as she posted pictures of a foal stood next to a batch of pink balloons.
‘Impatiently awaiting the arrival of our little girl,’ she wrote to her 335,000-strong legion of followers.
It comes after she and Bethke got married in September at the Schumacher family’s luxury villa in Majorca, which they bought for £27million in 2017.
German outlet BILD reported at the time that it was ‘very likely’ that seven-time world champion Schumacher was present, almost 11 years on from his near-fatal freak skiing crash, though this has been disputed.
Gina, 27, is a successful equestrian, and has been with Bethke, who is also a horse enthusiast, since 2017.
Guests at their wedding are said to have included Michael’s brother Ralf and his partner Etienne Bosquet-Cassagne, who have been embroiled in a row with the former’s ex-wife Cora over her claims she felt ‘stabbed in the heart’ after finding out he was gay earlier this year.
The villa has a landing pad and he is regularly flown from to the villa in Port d’Andratx from the family home by Lake Geneva in Switzerland.
It is part of a 15,000 square metre estate which boasts two swimming pools, a helipad, a gym and a huge palm-tree-fringed garden.
The ceremony lasted around half an hour according to respected Majorcan daily Ultima Hora and they said ‘I do’ by 4pm.
There was reportedly a banquet with a live performance from a country music band, although no figure is given for the number of guests.
It was reported at the start of the year Gina and her boyfriend would get married during the summer at Villa Yasmin, which the Schumachers bought from Real Madrid president Florentino Perez.
It remains unclear whether father Schumacher did, for sure, attend the ceremony.
He saw his life change forever after a tragic accident 10 years ago.
Having spent his career expertly piloting the world’s fastest – and dangerous machines for more than 15 years – before retiring in good health in 2012 aged 43, Schumacher almost lost his life in a freak fall just one year later.
On a family skiing holiday in Meribel, he suffered an accident and fractured his skull, leading to a traumatic brain injury.
Having been placed into a medically induced coma, he underwent two brain surgeries, surviving both against all odds, but remained in critical condition.
In April 2014, doctors began the painstaking process of gradually withdrawing him from the coma, and by June he was deemed safe to move.
More to follow.
