Panic as man-eating tiger gatecrashes Brand/Perry nuptials in the Indian jungle



Russell Brand and Katy Perry spent their first night as man and wife surrounded by armed guards after a man-eating tiger gatecrashed their Indian jungle wedding.

The male predator, which has killed three people in the past two years, scaled two walls at the wedding venue after being attracted by the noise and lights at the £300,000 event.

It was finally beaten away by guards as it tried to jump a third wall just 50ft from the newlyweds and their 85 guests.



And the bride wore: Katy sported a red bag on her head as she went on a tiger safari in the Ranthambhore National Park ahead of her marriage to Russell at the weekend

'Epitome of beauty': Russell Brand gave his new bride Katy Perry a female tiger called Machli as a wedding gift

With any luck, the tiger Brand bought his new wife as a wedding gift won't turn out to be as deadly.

Brand spent thousands buying Machli, a female Bengal tiger who lives in the Ranthambhore National Park where the pair wed at the weekend. It's said that the comedian picked her from the dozens of big cats roaming the park as she was regarded by the park rangers as 'the epitome of beauty' - reflecting his feelings for singer Katy.

However Katy, who already owns a slightly smaller domestic cat called Kitty Purry, will leave Machli to prowl in her jungle home and the money Russell paid for her will be invested in the tiger's welfare and the park's conservation schemes. Rumours are also flying around today that despite Katy pleading for privacy regarding their nuptials on her official Twitter page, she and Russell are to sell their wedding photos to a British magazine, believed to be OK!. Posting on her Twitter page on 19 October, the singer pleaded: ' Greatest gift you can give us is respect and love during this private time... Thank you for this. ..' But a spokesperson for Russell Brand re-confirmed what the star had told New York magazine last week - that they wouldn't be selling the pics to anyone.

The spokesperson told MailOnline: 'I can confirm there is no deal with OK Magazine or any other publication.' Russell told New York magazine the couple wanted to keep their big day an intimate affair, with only their close friends and family attending - and added they wouldn't be signing a pre-nuptual agreement either.

He said: 'Really, love between two people is the most spectacular and ordinary thing in the world. 'I want to make our wedding just about me and her loving each other and we're getting married in front of our friends and family and keeping it normal. 'So it ain't selling the pictures, ain't doing no pre-nup.'

Floral display: Staff arrange white blooms to adorn tables at the wedding reception There's been no word yet from either of their peoples as to whether or not it's true however, and if not, when the public will see any pictures from the ceremony. The pair were still celebrating their union yesterday, as the California Gurls star Katy turned 26. As well as the tigher, Tussell was also said to have given Katy a ruby which is said to possess 'protective powers', while Katy decided to give her man a baby elephant as a love token.

During Saturday's extravagant ceremony there were also turns by a Hindu guru and a fortune-telling parrot.

According to witnesses, the bird foresaw a long life, long marriage and long and successful careers for both bride and groom by picking out cards in response to guests’ questions – translated into Hindi for it by handler Pandit Rakesh Joshi. Russell and Katy tied the knot in a lavish, colourful Hindu ceremony at the Aman-i-khas resort on the edge of the Rajasthani nature reserve with 85 friends and family in attendance on Saturday.

The bride started off in a blue sari, but was said to have made several changes during the day.



Anticipation: The local helipad gets a quick brush down as local police look on Russell meanwhile sported a nude-coloured traditional kurta before later wearing a long, elaborately embroidered coat.

The wedding is reported to have been a very authentic affair, with Indian musicians singing and playing the sitar, santoor, tabla and nagaras (Rajasthani kettle drums) while the guests cheered and clapped. The pair made sure to have an authentic wedding procession known as the 'bharat', where the groom and his relatives walk to wherever the bride is waiting. Two elephants named Laxmi and Mala arrived at the resort on Friday night in readiness for the procession.

While it is considered perfectly adequate for the bridegroom to ride on a white horse, the Indian royals used elephants, so naturally enough Russell wanted one.

However, tradition won out, and the groom arrived on horseback – while the elephants, camels and more horses formed part of the wedding procession . She bangs: The nagaras, or Rajasthani kettle drums, arrive before the ceremony The couple then sat in gold wedding thrones under a mandap (traditional wedding canopy) strung with red and yellow ribbons and garlands of marigolds. The pair then made speeches, with Katy - unusually for a bride - making one herself. However, it was said to last a bum-numbing 30 minutes as the star rambled about her belief in reincarnation and how she's convinced her and Russell were together in a previous life.

The sounds of sacred Vedic chanting could also be heard coming from the resort. According to people working in the nearby Ranthambhore wildlife sanctuary, staff were instructed to leave at around 5pm local time. 'I hadn't even finished the lighting I had been told to do. They just told us to get out fast,' one worker told People magazine. And it looks like Katy, 25, and Russell, 35, spared absolutely no expense with their celebrations. In the days before the celebrations kicked off, the local store was asked to order 1,380 cans of soft drink and 5,000 bottles of mineral water. The wedding feast was traditional Indian and vegan. And the guests made an effort to keep it traditional too, with the majority of them in Indian dress. Indian musician Rafiq Khan says,'The young children looked very pretty, with the boys wearing small turbans too. 'As the guests entered, my troupe of drum players played the our Nagara drums (Indian kettle drums) to welcome them.

Last minute preparations: Florists work on intricate flower arrangements to decorate the wedding venue behind the scenes

Shady character: Another wedding guest is chauffered in for the ceremony

Golden couple: Two wedding guests arrive suitably attired for the extravagant festivities

More than a dozen cars were seen ferrying guests including David Baddiel into the resort beforehand .

Other celebrity wedding goers were expected to include Jonathan Ross and his wife Jane Goldman, though Katy's best friend Rihanna, who organised her hen do in Vegas, couldn't attend 'due to work commitments'.

Jumbo wedding: Two elephants wait in the car park before their starring roles in Katy Perry and Russell Brand's betrothal in India - the pinnacle of a six-day celebration

Katy was pictured last week ahead of the wedding wearing a nath - an Indian bridal nose ring - while Russell has had a henna tattoo done on his hand.

Guests were treated to a traditional dance by Indian supermodel Jesse Randhawa and her husband, choreographer ­Sandhip Soparrkar, dancing for them. There were also fire jugglers and fire eaters, snake charmers and dance troupes. The festivities were expected to continue yesterday 100 miles from the wedding venue with a gala reception at the Taj Rambagh Palace Hotel, the former home of the Maharaja and Maharani of Jaipur, which was converted into a five-star hotel in 1957. The party was expected to have an 'East meets West' theme with a rumoured performance by rap mogul P Diddy, even though he was in the U.S. having hosted a night at Pure nightclub in Las Vegas on Saturday.

Brand proposed to I Kissed A Girls star Katy at the Rambagh Palace during a holiday their last year after a whirlwind three month romance.



Wedding dance: One of the highlights of the ceremony was a traditional Indian dance by celebrated choreographer Sandip Soparrkar and his supermodel wife Jesse Randhawa

In the jungle the mighty jungle: The tigers might not be sleeping tonight

In tents ceremony: Russell and Katy celebrated their union after making their vows in this vividly coloured tent in the Ranthambore National Park in Rajasthan

As previously reported by MailOnline, local police threatened to close down the reception if festivities got out of hand to stop tigers in the surrounding jungle being startled.