The traveller traditions Paris & Tyson Fury stick to & why leaving school or marrying young isn’t an issue
FROM fast cars to a designer wardrobe, Paris Fury and her multi-millionaire boxing champion husband Tyson can afford to live a very lavish lifestyle.
But despite the fame and fortune, the childhood sweethearts have remained firm in sticking to their Traveller roots.
From marrying young to leaving school early, Fabulous takes a look back at how the loved-up couple have followed their traditional values – and are determined for their six children to do the same…
GROWING UP IN CARAVANS
Just like her boxing champion husband Tyson, who grew up in a gypsy family in Wythenshawe, Manchester, Paris was raised in an Irish Traveller family in Doncaster, South Yorkshire.
Discussing her upbringing to The Mirror, the mum-of-six explained: “I am a Traveller, I am a gypsy. I was brought up in caravans when I was a little girl.
“It’s just the traditional lifestyle; there’s no real definition, there’s no bloodline because we never went to the doctor to say we are who we are.
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“There was no paperwork, there are still gypsies today who can’t read or write; we’re just that old fashioned.”
Earlier this year, Paris, who now lives in a modest £550,000 five-bed, four-bathroom home in Morecambe, Lancashire with her family, shared a snap of a new garden caravan ornament she’d bought.
Alongside the photo, she penned: “For the garden…don’t forget where you come from.”
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Similarly to Paris, Tyson – who is nicknamed “The Gypsy King” and is worth an estimated £130 million – also once lived in a caravan on land owned by his dad, John.
In 2020, Fury paid tribute to his heritage by purchasing and customising a gypsy wagon that he now proudly treks through the streets.
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Speaking about the gypsy wagon, he said: “[It’s] real gold, gold leaf, all hand-painted.
“The Gypsy code says you must travel towards the sun, so we keep the sun towards the back.”
But while Tyson has always been a proud member of the travelling community, it’s not always been easy due to the cruel comments he’s received from trolls.
In a 2016 press conference interview ahead of a rematch with Wladimir Klitschko, he declared: “No one wants to see a gypsy do well.
“I am a gypsy and that’s it. I will always be a gypsy, I’ll never change. I will always be fat and white and that’s it.
“I am the champion, yet I am thought of as a bum.”
MARRYING YOUNG
The childhood sweethearts met at a mutual friend’s wedding when Paris was just 15 – and they started dating soon after reuniting at her 16th birthday party.
In keeping with Traveller tradition, Tyson married young when he wed Paris at the age of 20 in a traditionally religious ceremony at St Peter-In-Chains Roman Catholic Church in Doncaster in front of 300 friends and family in November 2008.
However, the pair didn’t sleep together until the night of their wedding.
Traveller-born Paris previously said: “Even after we got engaged, Tyson would sleep in a caravan at my parents’ home, while I slept inside the house.
“We didn’t sleep together until after we got married. That is the traveller’s way.”
BIG FAMILY
The couple have since gone on to have six children together – Venezuela, 13, Prince John James, nine, Prince Tyson II, four, Valencia, three, Prince Adonis Amaziah, two, and baby Athena.
Speaking about wanting to “carry on the great Traveller tradition” in biography, Love and Fury: The Magic and Mayhem of Life with Tyson, Paris revealed it’s her “duty” to look after her husband and kids.
The Morecambe-based mum said: “Sometimes people would ask me why I didn’t employ any hired help – it wasn’t as if we couldn’t afford it – but that just wasn’t the Traveller way.
“As proud and dedicated wives and mothers, we considered it our duty and our privilege to look after our homes and children ourselves.”
She went on to add that she’s keen to set a good example to her six kids and explained: “I didn’t like the idea of them growing up with chefs and cleaners grafting away around us while I waltzed around all day looking glamorous.”
Paris also told how she and Tyson always “intended to carry on the great Traveller tradition and have a big family.”
She said: “Three children at the very least, we’d say to each other, maybe even ten if we were lucky.”
LEAVING SCHOOL YOUNG
Being brought up with a traditional gypsy lifestyle meant that both Paris and Tyson left education after primary school without any qualifications.
Sticking to her culture, Paris revealed in 2020 ITV documentary ‘Tyson Fury: The Gypsy King’ that she wanted her children to be taught at home and to remain under her roof until they marry, while Tyson had a rather different perspective…
“Me and Tyson have talked about the kids going to school,” Paris said. “Tyson wants the boys to go into education but I don’t; it’s just not what we’ve ever done.
“I was brought up as a Traveller and I want my kids to be brought up as Travellers. They will probably leave school at 11 and they’ll be educated at home from then.
“The boys will take a wife and make their family and the girls will take a husband and make their family.
“Until they take a husband or wife they won’t be leaving the home and I wouldn’t want them to, but for definite [eldest daughter] Venezuela won’t be.
“Tyson’s idea is they have the best of both worlds; the upbringing of a Traveller but the education of a non-Traveller – how powerful could you be?”
Since then, Paris opened up to Fabulous magazine about her eldest daughter Venezuela leaving the education system at 11.
“We finish school at primary age, which is the traditional traveller way,” she explained.
“We’ve just brought the tradition into the 21st century. Venezuela wanted to leave school and all her [traveller] friends were leaving.
“Her tutor is gonna keep her up to date with all of her tests. She will also be having piano lessons.”
Despite Tyson’s reservations, the couple ultimately decided that Venezuela should leave school as planned due to their busy schedule.
The mum added: “We move so much [the Furys also have a house in Las Vegas and regularly travel to America to be with Tyson]. It wouldn’t work if they were in school full-time to then be off to America.”
BOXING
In a 2014 interview with the BBC, Tyson revealed that his heritage was part of the reason he became a boxer.
Opening up, The Gypsy King said that he needed to learn to fight and defend himself being a traveller in society.
“Boxing is a key element of the travelling culture,” he explained.
“Before anything else, you learn how to fight.
“Whereas in other cultures little kids will kick a ball about, we’re punching hands.
“When we have a dispute, we’re not supposed to go to the police, we’re supposed take our shirts off, go outside and sort it out with fisticuffs.
“To be a good fighting man is one of the best things you can ever be in life.”
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Tyson is related to the self-proclaimed King of the Gypsies Bartley Gorman, who was a renowned bare-knuckle boxer from 1972 until 1992.
“Why be ashamed of what you really are?” Tyson’s dad John once said. “Tyson will always be a gypsy no matter what he does.”