Ecclestone was born in London[2] as the younger daughter of former Armani model Slavica Radić and English Formula One billionaire Bernie Ecclestone. She has an older sister, Tamara Jane, an older paternal half-sister, Deborah, and a younger paternal half-brother, Alexander.
She contracted viral meningitis at the age of 14, and told the media that it "changed her life forever".[5] She said "I no longer take my health for granted ... I'm now a health freak and a hypochondriac. I'm obsessed with cleanliness, I eat healthily and take my vitamins." She has since become an ambassador for the Meningitis Trust.[5]
Growing up, she wanted to be a fashion designer.[6] She decided to make menswear because it is a "bigger niche" and because "womenswear was too saturated".[6]
At the age of 19, she created the menswear label FORM, which was sold into retailers including Harrods from October 2008.[6] In April 2009, it was announced that Petra had signed a contract with the Croatian clothing manufacturer Siscia.[7]
As well as English, she speaks Croatian fluently and understands French and Italian.[8]
On 27 August 2011, Ecclestone married businessman James Stunt.[9] She gave birth to their first child, a daughter, in February 2013.[10] In April 2015 she gave birth to twin boys.[11] Their divorce was finalised on 12 October 2017, along with an agreed split of their estimated £5.5 billion joint wealth, and she reverted to her maiden name.[12] In 2020 she gave birth to her second daughter. On 16 July 2022, Ecclestone married businessman Sam Palmer.
Her 57,000-square-foot (5,300 m2) mansion, The Manor, was the former residence of Candy and Aaron Spelling, and was the largest house in Los Angeles County.[13] According to a 2012 article in The Wall Street Journal, she had first viewed several other properties, including a 36,000-square-foot property on Sunset Boulevard, priced at $49.5 million. The real estate broker Rick Hilton said: "I showed her several properties but they weren't grand enough."[14] In 2014, Ecclestone put The Manor back on the market with a price tag of $150 million.[15] However, she reportedly turned down an offer that met her price in December 2015.[16][17] The Manor was relisted for sale in October 2016 with an asking price of $200 million. In June 2019, it sold to an anonymous buyer for $119.7 million, the highest sale price in Californian history.[18]
She also owns a residence in Chelsea, London, that she bought in 2010 for $90 million. The owner of the construction company that worked on the building, Sayed Bukhari, said in The Wall Street Journal article that she had already been offered more than $125 million for the four-storey home.[14]
