Wedding in Cambodia! Angelina’s Big Surprise
Now that Brad Pitt isn’t standing in her way, Angelina Jolie’s dream comes true
It’s official — Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are neighbors. On May 18, moving trucks arrived at her new $25 million mansion in LA’S gated Laughlin Park enclave, which is just minutes from her ex’s Los Feliz compound. That same day, she was spotted out shopping with son Pax and daughter Zahara in West Hollywood. “They were picking up things for the new house,” says a family friend. “There’s still so much to do before they’re all settled. This is such a big move for Angelina.” But she’s about to make an even bigger one. As In Touch first reported in April, Angelina has quietly fallen for a wealthy 40-something British philanthropist and businessman, and she’s eager to marry for the fourth time as soon as her divorce from Brad, 53, is finalized. And now she’s chosen the location for their wedding. “Cambodia,” the family friend exclusively tells In Touch. “She’s had a love affair with the country ever since she filmed Lara Croft: Tomb Raider there in 2000 and then adopted son Maddox there in 2002.” In February, Angelina, 41, gushed about the Southeast Asia kingdom. “Part of my heart is and
will always be in this country,” she said, calling it “like a second home.” She owns a sprawling property there, where she’s built a family retreat and wildlife reserve that has its own private lagoon. Earlier this year, she purchased more land next door to her compound. “All systems are go,” says the family friend, “for the wedding to take place on her new property in the Northwest Cambodia jungle city of Battambang.”
Brad was standing in her way
at first, but not anymore. Furious with Angelina’s attempts to secure sole custody of their children, Maddox, 15, Pax, 13, Zahara, 12, Shiloh, 11, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 8, and resistance to put down roots in LA, “Brad had brought the divorce to a screeching halt and stopped Angie’s wedding plans,” explains the family friend. “He wasn’t going to continue talks until she became more reasonable. But then she finally caved to his terms on the financial settlement and custody agreement to clear the decks for the marriage.” The fact that she bought a home barely a mile from Brad’s property, adds the family friend, “is a clear sign that she’s on board with his
Cambodia Is So Close to Her Heart
‘‘ After everything she’s been through, Angie is ready for this next chapter in her life” — A FAMILY FRIEND
divorce demands. Brad has always wanted joint custody, and he’s getting it. So the divorce is being fasttracked now for the wedding.”
Things also improved between Brad and Angelina because of the work he’s done on himself since she filed for divorce in September. “Brad decided to assess what had gone wrong in the relationship and what needed to be done to get the kids back in his life,” says an insider, referencing the devastating child abuse investigation launched in the wake of a drunken private-plane argument with his elder boys that left Brad fighting to gain custody. Though he was cleared of any wrongdoing and now sees the kids regularly, he’s publicly owned up to his part in the demise of his and Angelina’s 12-year relationship. “I was boozing too much. It’s just become a problem,” he said in his first post-split interview, which was published in early May. “I could drink a Russian under the table with his own vodka. I was a professional. I was good.” Brad said everything that happened was “self-inflicted,” and now that he’s sobered up and started going to therapy, he says his life is “family first.”
Angelina is now creating a new family for herself and wants her wedding day to be magical. “She’s planning a small outdoor wedding this summer. While it will be the wet season in Cambodia, the country will also be at its most beautiful,” says the family friend. “She has a
special spot on her property in Battambang picked out that overlooks a river. She feels it’s perfect for the ceremony.” She’s looking to the local culture for inspiration. “Angie’s considering wearing traditional Cambodian garb and wants the food at the reception to be of the region as well: fish and beef curries, green mango salad, barbecue pork and rice, fried bananas, Lort Chha noodles and pumpkin custard,” adds the family friend. “She only wants her nearest and dearest in Cambodia for the wedding and she insists she’ll be happy with the outcome no matter how hastily it’s put together because it’s being done with love.”
Angelina wants all her kids to be there on her big day. “She’s thinking of having Shiloh, Zahara and Vivienne as bridesmaids and Maddox as the groom’s best man since Maddox feels like the man of the family now,” says the family
friend. “Knox will assume ringbearer duties, and like he did in Angie and Brad’s wedding, Pax will be responsible for baking a cake for the reception. There will be some Buddhist elements to the ceremony, too, as Angie, Maddox and Pax are Buddhists, but what she really wants is just for all the children to be involved.” Brad won’t fight her on it, says the insider: “He will sign off on the kids going.”
Of course, Brad still believes it’s too much, too soon. “He thinks she’s getting married on the rebound,” says the insider. “He doesn’t think it will last.” But Angelina insists she’s in love and that marrying so quickly after the divorce is the right thing to do. “Her marriage to Brad was pretty volatile,” says the family friend. “She doesn’t have that with her new man. She’s convinced he’s the one — and marrying in Cambodia is a dream come true.” ◼