Inside 80-year-old Rod Stewart’s ‘magical’ wedding anniversary trip after illness

20 June 2025, 12:17

Sir Rod and his wife Penny Lancaster got married 18 years ago.

Rod Stewart and Penny Lancaster celebrated their 18th wedding anniversary in style with a luxury train journey through Europe.

In a joint post shared on their social media, Sir Rod and Penny revealed that to mark the special occasion, the couple travelled on the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express from Paris to Portofino.

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The trip was a personally significant one, as the journey started in the French city where they got engaged in 2005, and ended in the picturesque Italian village where they wed in 2007.

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A post shared by Penny Lancaster (@penny.lancaster)

Orient Express trips on this line start at prices of around £10,400 per person, with a Grand Suite worth £27,400 per traveller, so the couple’s romantic getaway was certainly a lavish treat!

“Entering a bygone era @vsoetrain from Paris where we got engaged to Portofino where we got married 18 years ago,” Penny captioned a photo of the pair smiling outside one of the luxurious train’s coaches.

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“It’s totally magical,” she added, later calling the trip “a dream come true” on her Instagram story.

Penny and Sir Rod’s travels abroad come one week ahead of when the 80-year-old singer is set to take to the stage at Glastonbury as this year’s Glastonbury Legends headliner.

The ‘Maggie May’ singer is looking forward to the performance, his first since he was forced to cancel several of his planned Las Vegas residency shows and reschedule two Californian tour dates due to illness.

“I have to cancel and reschedule my next six concerts in June as I continue to to recover from the flu,” the 80-year-old musician wrote in a statement published June 7.

“I’m devastated and sincerely apologize for any inconvenience to my fans,” he continued. “I’ll be back on stage and will see you soon – Sir Rod,” he finished.

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A post shared by Sir Rod Stewart (@sirrodstewart)

Fans responded to the rockstar’s post by sending many well-wishes, while accepting the ‘Sailing’ singer’s heartfelt apology for the cancelled show dates.

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In addition to Glastonbury, Rod is also preparing for the release of a new compilation album in a week’s time.

Rod Stewart: The Ultimate Hits collection will come out on streaming, vinyl, Blu-Ray, CD and cassette on Friday, June 27.