How Kerry Stokes tried to stop James Packer marrying Mariah Carey

It’s no secret Australian billionaire James Packer had a less-than-amicable split from ex-fiancée Mariah Carey.

The pair had a whirlwind relationship which started in 2015 by going public with their love while on a yacht in Italy, and culminated less than a year later with Packer proposing with a $10 million diamond ring.

They never made it up the aisle however, and that’s partly down to Packer’s friend and fellow billionaire, Kerry Stokes.

With just weeks to go before the couple were due to wed in Bora Bora on Packer’s super yacht, Stokes recommended he visit Israel, according to an excerpt from new biography The Price Of Fortune: The Untold Story Of Being James Packer, published on news.com.au.

“We agreed it would be good if he spent some time in Israel,” Stokes said. “Away from all the controversies and the pressures and the intensities.”

To stop Packer from leaving the country quickly, the Seven Network chairman had organised for unscheduled maintenance to take place on Packer’s plane.

However, the 78-year-old was accused of “kidnapping” Packer by Carey and her entourage.

Stokes insisted he never intended on fully putting a stop to the nuptials, he was just looking out for the welfare of his friend.

“In retrospect that was good for James,” he recalled. “James’s welfare was paramount. He needed care at that stage.”

Author of the explosive biography, Damien Kitney, told A Current Affair, Stokes played a “pivotal role” in the cancellation of the nuptials.

In October last year, Packer spoke about Carey for the first time since calling off the engagement, confessing their relationship was ‘a mistake’.

The casino mogul said he began dating the songstress during a low point in his life when he was in over $5 billion of debt and looking for ways to embed himself in the US, where his ex-wife Erica and three kids live.

“I was at a low point in my personal life,” Packer told the Weekend Australian.

“She was kind, exciting and fun. Mariah is a woman of substance. She is very bright. But it was a mistake for her and a mistake for me.”

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