Petra Ecclestone and fiancé Sam Palmer stepped out for dinner in LA on Saturday, one month after discussing how they had ‘flown around the world to try to escape coronavirus‘.
The heiress, 32, and her beau, 37, cut stylish figures as they enjoyed a night out at Giorgio Baldi in matching black ensembles.
Petra wore a black leather top, paired with a matching longline coat as she strolled beside Sam in California – where the family home is.
Couple: Petra Ecclestone and fiancé Sam Palmer stepped out for dinner in LA on Saturday, one month after discussing how they had ‘flown around the world to try to escape coronavirus’
She teamed this with stonewash jeans and black sandals, which displayed her white pedicure.
The star upped the glamour with tumbling blonde tresses and a smoky wash of make-up.
Sam wore a black coat and jeans, while the couple both sported face masks amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The couple looked relaxed and happy as they climbed into a luxurious chaffeur-driven vehicle before heading home.
Last month ‘illness-phobic’ billionaire Petra defended travelling to seven countries in lockdown to ‘escape coronavirus’, claiming that ‘others would if they could’.
Glamour: The heiress, 32, and her beau, 37, cut stylish figures as they enjoyed a night out at Giorgio Baldi in matching black ensembles
Text: Petra wore a black leather top, paired with a matching longline coat
Style: She teamed this with stonewash jeans and black sandals, which displayed her white pedicure
Safety first: Sam wore a black coat and jeans, while the couple both sported face masks amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic
Dinner date: The couple looked stylish as they left the restaurant after their dinner
The heiress has travelled with her fiancé Sam and four children from London to Croatia to LA, then Switzerland, Monaco and France, then back to LA and Monaco, then The Maldives and back to Monaco since March last year.
Talking to the Times’ T2, Petra asserted she hasn’t broken rules and said: ‘We’re currently in Monaco. For now. Not sure where we’ll be next week . . . We’re very Covid-conscious. We’ve flown completely around the world to try and miss it. What I think we’ve realised now is you can’t run from coronavirus.’
The couple returned to London from their home in LA just as the pandemic hit last year and they hardly left the house at this point.
They then flew to Croatia to stay on her Formula One boss dad Bernie’s yacht for one month in the summer.
But because her sister Tamara, 36, and her father Bernie, 90, were both in Switzerland with their families, they decided to go there so their children could partake in outdoor activities instead of being cooped up at home.
‘We’ve flown around the world to try to escape coronavirus’: ‘Illness-phobic’ billionaire Petra defended travelling to seven countries in lockdown and asserted she hasn’t broken rules and claims ‘others would if they could’ (pictured in Croatia last summer)
As the virus grew, the family travelled to Monaco after two months because ‘it has done very well for coronavirus,’ Sam noted.
Despite schools being open there, the couple have been home-schooling their children but their nanny-housekeeper contracted coronavirus and so they’ve been doing everything themselves.
Acknowledging how difficult single mothers would be finding this situation, homeschooling in an apartment, Sam said, ‘we can’t really complain.’
Petra regards herself as being illness-phobic due to a near-death experience with meningitis when she was aged 14.
She noted: ‘I’m a huge hypochondriac. I hate germs and anything that I’m not in 100 per cent control over gives me anxiety. So this whole virus . . . it scares me and it isn’t great for my anxiety. ‘
Getting away from it all: Sam shared this picture of himself with Petra and their four children (who they doesn’t picture publicly) on their holiday in the Maldives in January
Petra’s father Bernie is worth $3.2billion and Petra famously sold her LA home for £97 million in 2019 – Essex born Sam who was new to this lifestyle noticed ways to cut costs and launched a staffing agency to the super-rich as a result.
While the couple, who have been together since 2017, know they get to live a privileged lifestyle, they are unapologetic for the benefits this has given them, particularly in lockdown.
He added: ‘A lot of people get blinded by the wealth. We are parents with four children. I think people think that we sit around eating lobster and bathing in champagne. It couldn’t be further from the truth and that’s really why we did this [P.S Say Cheese] podcast, to show we are very normal people.’
Envious: The couple haven’t been afraid to share pictures from the Waldorf Astoria on their luxury trip, while Brits are forced to stay at home – but they haven’t broken the rules