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Pippa Middleton Is Honeymooning on the Same Uber-Exclusive Island the Obamas Just Left
Talk about happily ever after.
It wouldn't be the first time Britain's royal (and royal adjacent) family duked it out with America's own Obama family in a battle for the most epic vacations on the planet.
Pippa Middleton and new husband James Matthews set off on their honeymoon less than 24 hours after their church wedding and over-the-top reception; the couple was spotted at LAX on the long journey to the South Pacific. (And no — they actually were not traveling through the new terminal just for rich and famous folks, but rather chatting with commonfolk.)
According to sources cited in The Sun, the newlyweds well spend the first part of their honeymoon on Tetiaroa, an island once owned by Marlon Brando. The actor and activist first came to French Polynesia during the filming of Mutiny on the Bounty in the 1960s, and he fell in love with a stunning island, located 30 miles northeast of Tahiti — a short and stunning flight by private aircraft. So he bought it.
Yes, he purchased Tetiaroa, an atoll composed of a dozen small islands surrounding a lagoon, and spent as much time there as possible.
These days, the island houses a resort known as the Brando, a newly built five-star property with 35 luxury villas and private pools, two-French influenced bars, and Michelin-level restaurants (chef Guy Martin of the Michelin-two-starred restaurant Le Grand Véfour in Paris is responsible for the menu at the fine-dining and more casual dining venues on the property) — all amid sea turtles and exotic birds. Not too shabby.
(And yes, of course it made our list of 8 otherworldly South Pacific islands you have to see before you die.)
Rates start in the thousands nightly. But that was hardly a deterrent for newly minted man of leisure, Barack Obama, who just spent a month there with Michelle: After traveling to billionaire Richard Branson's private Necker Island, rocking his hat backward with his feet in the sand like a boss, and kitesurfing like a carefree spring breaker, he spent his time at the Brando getting a little serious — he used the serenity as a backdrop for writing his memoirs.
So a word to all you vacationers with money to burn: If it's good enough for royals and heads of state, it's probably a good choice for you too.
