Everything we know about YouTube’s royal wedding

MrBeast, the world’s biggest YouTuber, is a sucker for private islands. As the unofficial face of ridiculous online stunts, he has hosted island-wide games of hide-and-seek, challenged people to escape islets by building their own raft, and has even trapped exes together on deserted locales.So, it’s not surprising that the millionaire YouTuber chose a remote island to tie the knot with his influencer partner, Thea Booysen. Not just any island, but Richard Branson’s, no less. Isn’t it lovely when a mega-rich person helps out a slightly less mega-rich person? May our faith in humanity be restored.MrBeast recently married influencer Thea Booysen during an “intimate” celebration on Richard Branson’s island. How quaint.Getty ImagesWhat’s more surprising is that the nuptials – which for all intents and purposes is YouTube’s royal wedding – remained relatively hush-hush. Despite having taken place more than a week ago, we’ve only properly caught onto it now after the Beast himself shared photos of the nuptials online. This is extremely low-key for a man who for 14 years has thrown literal mounds of cash into everything he does, and then films it for the world to see. And, believe it or not, he didn’t even trap his guests on the island, challenging them to a high-stakes game of coconut bowling for some absurd cash prize.So, what was the millionaire wedding actually like, who is the lucky MrsBeast, and is there reason to actually care?An ‘intimate’ affairUnlike Taylor Swift’s nuptials, this celebrity wedding was actually quite small. The couple got hitched in front of 70 loved ones by an ordained minister friend. But that’s the only “small” thing about this wedding.The celebrations took place on Necker Island, a 30-hectare private resort in the British Virgin Islands, belonging to Richard Branson, the billionaire founder of Virgin Group.And if you thought Swift’s two-day extravaganza at Madison Square Garden was lengthy, you’ll be blown away by the week-long schedule of festivities MrBeast rolled out. According to People magazine, which had exclusive coverage of the wedding, guests were treated to all kinds of island activities from July 14 onwards, including kite-surfing and snorkeling. They were even able to feed the local lemurs and flamingos.Thankfully, it wasn’t just the native animals who were fed. Guests were reportedly served sushi, wagyu beef, fish and carrot cake. Surely, MrBeast was also able to sneak some Feastables, his line of chocolate, into everyone’s party bags.The newlyweds recently attended the FIFA World Cup final together.Getty ImagesAs for the fashion, Booysen has been a lot less secretive than certain pop star juggernauts. In photos shared by MrBeast, she’s seen wearing a custom lacy dress by Nicole + Felicia Couture, all styled by Jeremy Noig. MrBeast, meanwhile, wore a white tux with black accents by Ralph Lauren.“It sounds silly, but this is really just a formality,” Booysen told People after the wedding. “Ever since we started dating we’ve been doing it with the goal of marriage. The difference is now the world knows we’re married.”Why does this matter?You may not recognise his face, but MrBeast is basically the king of the internet. He currently has 508 million subscribers on YouTube – more than anyone else on the platform, and gets billions of views per month. One of his most popular videos, in which he pays someone to fly to Paris to buy him a baguette, has more than 1.7 billion views. This epitomises his content – ridiculous, pointless, extreme and always high in dollar-value.His reputation for being a “genuinely nice dude” paired with his penchant for crazy stunts and loose purse strings earned him his very own reality competition show on Prime Video. Beast Games follows 1000 contestants as they compete in physical and mental challenges in a bid to win $US5 million ($7.13 million). By the finale, that prize pot doubled to $US10 million.This is all to say, he’s a very wealthy man with a following to match. It’s also a refreshing departure from MrBeast’s usual antics, which are generally extremely public, monetised and “brand-focused”. Though they clearly threw a lot of money at this celebration, it wasn’t flipped into some outlandish content opportunity – a rarity for MrBeast.The YouTuber recently told People he never wanted his wedding to be in the spotlight. In fact, there were no cameras beyond their professional wedding photographer.“This will definitely be more family and friends, definitely more private,” he said. “It will be the ultimate way to take some time away and enjoy things.”Introducing MrsBeastWho is this person who managed to tame the beast? Booysen is a fellow content creator, though she specialises in esports commentary and online gaming. The South African influencer also co-owns esports organisation Nixuh.Though they operate on similar platforms, they only met by chance. MrBeast was visiting South Africa in 2022 with YouTuber and pro wrestler Logan Paul and Casey Neistat when they all came down with COVID-19. This delayed their onward travel plans, so MrBeast arranged a dinner with a friend, who then invited Booysen, and the rest was history.“When I met him, I was quite surprised how down-to-earth he was, and also how intelligent he was,” Booysen told People. “I thought YouTubers were just sort of a persona, but when I met him, I was quite surprised to see that he’s actually a nice guy. He wasn’t sitting there with an ego.”The couple’s first public appearance was at the 2022 Kids’ Choice Awards. Though they were initially long-distance, they confirmed in 2024 that they had moved in together. MrBeast delivered the ultimate Christmas present that December, proposing to her in front of family and friends.Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees. Get The Watchlist delivered every Thursday.Nell Geraets is a Culture reporter at The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.From our partners