Vienna Opera Ball: does Richard Lugner have to do without a star guest?

Richard "Mörtel" Lugner (87) was initially unaccompanied as Lindsey Vonn (35) as a star guest for this year's Vienna Opera Ball after the cancellation. The former ski star suddenly had at the end of January canceled via Twitter, "Mortar" tried to play the matter over casually: he also liked to come alone, he told the "Kronen Zeitung", that it was quieter. However, this will not be the case after all.

He is "spoiled for choice"

The 87-year-old apparently has no problems finding a replacement quickly. "In an emergency I asked my daughter Jaqueline to find someone. Then she came with a highly appealing female guest," Lugner told the newspaper. Now he was "spoiled for choice" because after the debacle, 50 suggestions were made to him. "I chose the best." The Society builder will announce who this means at a further press conference next Wednesday (February 12).

Lugner apparently wants to commit to two guests this year, because an escort has already been determined: According to media reports, construction lion Karin Karrer, called "Zebra", invited to his box. The judicial officer already presented the "courier" with her robe, a sky blue dress by the Lebanese designer Joumana Hayek.

On February 20, the Opera Ball will take place in the Vienna State Opera for the 64th time. In recent years Lugner has shared his box with stars such as model Elle Macpherson (2019), actresses Melanie Griffith (2018), Goldie Hawn (2017), Brooke Shields (2016) and Elisabetta Canalis (2015) and reality TV star Kim Kardashian West (2014).