Guests at Michael Schumacher's 'first public appearance in 11 years' were made to follow strict rule amid new update

Guests at what was reportedly 'very likely' to have been Michael Schumacher's first public appearance in 11 years are said to have had to follow one strict rule.

The Formula 1 legend has not been seen publicly since he suffered a severe head injury in a skiing accident in December 2013.

Schumacher was airlifted to hospital before being placed in a medically induced coma.

A doctor stated in a press conference following the accident that Schumacher wearing a helmet saved his life.

He was brought out of the coma in June 2014 and has since been recovering with his family.

No official updates have since been released by his family in order to protect the record-equalling seven-time F1 world champion's family.

On Thursday, a German journalist - who is believed to be close to Schumacher - made a new claim about the 56-year-old's health.

That emerged nearly six months on from a report from German outlet BILD, who wrote that Schumacher was 'very likely' to have been present at his daughter Gina's wedding, which took place in Mallorca in September.

The report claimed that guests were told to hand over their mobile phones to the property's security, in order to ensure that no images of the property could be taken and then potentially leaked to the press. Schumacher, nor his location, have been pictured since his accident.

Schumacher won 91 races during his Formula 1 career (Image: Twitter)

In other news relating to the F1 legend, three suspects were placed on trial in the German city of Wuppertal last month accused of a £12 million blackmail plot against Schumacher and his family.

German prosecutors alleged that a man, addressed as Markus F, used his 'trusted role within the family's security team' to access and steal 1,500 photographs and 200 videos of the seven-time world champion.

It was further alleged that Mr F prepared a plan, along with the two others addressed as 'Yilmaz T' and 'Daniel L', to threaten to release the media on to the dark web if a ransom fee was not paid.

The BBC reported that Yilmaz T was jailed for three years for threatening to upload 900 personal photos, almost 600 videos and confidential medical records to the dark web, while his son was given a six-month suspended sentence for aiding and abetting extortion.

Mr F, meanwhile, was given a two-year suspended sentence.

The Schumacher family signalled their intention to appeal, with a representative for the F1 legend's wife Corinna stating: "We have appealed against what we consider to be the far too lenient sentence for Mr F.

"In my opinion, he was the mastermind behind this. What still shocks me most is the massive breach of trust."