In Bedouin with Madonna
Singer and her 40 guests wear Arabian costume for 60th bash on palace rooftop
POP queen Madonna threw an almighty Arabian night as she celebrated her 60th birthday under the stars in Morocco.
The singer hired a Moorish palace converted into a boutique hotel and partied until dawn on the rooftop.
She and 40 guests at the Marrakech bash wore traditional garb, Berber musicians played local music – and there were tracks from Madonna.
The singer didn’t perform and she insisted none of her songs were played.
Details of the bash were revealed to the Sunday Mirror by an insider at the Riad El Fenn hotel – owned by Sir Richard Branson’s sister Vanessa and business partner Howell James.
Rooms typically cost £350 a night and Madonna, worth a reported £464million, hired the entire hotel for three days.
The insider said: “She had Moroccan music and the guests dressed the Bedouin way, all of them.
“We expected she may have sang, but no one played her music. She told them not to and to not ask for it.
“There was no man with her – just her children. People started arriving to the restaurant about 6pm for coffee and drinks and then Madonna came and they started the celebrations.
“Dinner was very late – 10.30pm – and they stayed up until 4am. They were modest people and easygoing. Madonna is very polite, very modest. She drinks, but small amounts. She never got drunk.
“Some guests made speeches with anecdotes from previous birthdays. They sang ‘Happy Birthday’. Madonna was happy and a little emotional.” Four bodyguards and security agents kept an eye out for trespassers. Staff had their phones confiscated to prevent unwanted photographs leaking out. Guests also refrained from taking snaps.
The singer’s six children were there – sons Rocco, 18, and David, 12, and daughters Lourdes, 21, Mercy, 12, and five-year-old twins Estere and Stelle.
The menu was a lavish affair which had been chosen by food tasters sent out weeks before. Seasonal salads, fish, tagliatelle, Rooftop pool at hotel where Madonna threw her 60th birthday bash grilled meats and Berber tagines were washed down with champagne and French wines, including Chateau Laniote Saint-Emilion and Chateau Haut-Marbuzet.
Five shisha pipes were laid on for guests who wanted a smoke.
Indian dress designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee helped design kaftans and Berber costumes worn by guests.
They included Madonna’s best pal Debi Mazar, 54. The singer posted photos of her stay, captioning one of her and US actress Debi in their Bedouin outfits, saying: “If looks could kill... with my ride or die! @debimazar #Marrakesh #Morocco #magic #birthday.”
Another snap showed Madonna in front of six horsemen holding candles.
The star also visited the five-star Kasbah Agafay spa, went shopping at a souk and had a camel trek in the desert.
Guests at the Riad El Fenn went to the rooftop for breakfast, but Madonna had hers in her room. And she left just a few hours after the bash finished.
The hotel, built in 1830 during the French occupation, is a celebs’ favourite. It has private plunge pools, copper bathtubs and jewel-coloured bathrooms.