. . . BUT AT LEAST THEY GOT A DISCOUNT ON THEIR PRIVATE SOUTH PACIFIC BEACH!
WITH money clearly no object, where better to whisk a bride than to the French Polynesian atoll of Tetiaroa, in the Pacific Ocean, once owned by the late film star Marlon Brando? The Brando luxury eco resort, where Barack Obama was recently a guest, has 35 thatched villas, each with its own pool and beach, giving the newlyweds the illusion of being marooned on their own private desert island — albeit with attentive staff to meet their every need. Although it was just the two of them, to dispel any possible cramped feeling, the couple are understood to have rented a three-bedroom thatched villa. Pippa needed somewhere to put all her bikinis, after all. For this, a source says they paid a discounted rate of £5,000 a night — the standard fee, according to the website, is almost £8,000 — making a total of £35,000 for the week, from May 23 to 29. As it was all-inclusive, with cocktails available at all times, at least they didn’t have to worry about exorbitant restaurant and bar bills when they checked out. Besides a steady flow of gourmet food and drink, the couple enjoyed views of a crystal-clear lagoon from the master bedroom on the top floor of their villa. They could even share a sumptuous outdoor bathtub and take in the spectacular scenery around the atoll, which lies 30 miles north of Tahiti. Add to this a pool with decking, linked to a private white-sand beach, and you can see why The Brando was the perfect escape from prying eyes — and camera lenses. Leaving it behind must have been a wrench. But thankfully it wasn’t too much of a come-down for Pippa and James, who spent Tuesday and Wednesday night this week at the Park Hyatt hotel in Sydney, right on the rocks beside the city’s Opera House. The penthouse suite they are rumoured to have stayed in — complete with roundthe-clock butler service, a marble bath and magnificent view of the skyline — could have set them back £11,000 a night, making the cost £22,000, just for this short leg of the trip. The couple then flew from Sydney to Darwin, in Australia’s Northern Territory, on Thursday and are believed to have flown from there to either Uluru — also known as Ayers Rock — or the wilds of The Kimberley in the west, an area of dramatic gorges and unspoilt coastline. Where, it’s pretty safe to assume, the couple won’t be slumming it.