LETTER FROM LONDON
When they want to escape from everyday life and often ungrateful weather, the British run off to the Costa Brava in Spain, Cyprus, Malta, or the Dordogne for Francophiles.
Since the mid-1960s, the happy few have developed a soft spot for Mosquito Island. This private island in the Grenadines archipelago, in the Caribbean, offers dream villas and beaches, but above all the guarantee of a discreet vacation, far from the paparazzi and the tabloid press. Mosquito, however, is not entirely immune to controversy.
Boris Johnson has just paid the price. So to speak, because his free vacation in this Caribbean paradise for the super-rich is hard to come by. The Prime Minister, who got elected on the promise to chair a "Government for the people", stayed ten days on Mosquito at the end of 2019, just after his overwhelming victory in the general elections in mid-December, without paying a penny. His young friend, Carrie Symonds, "Wanted to be near a beach", bring it back Times, and Mr. Johnson needed rest after intense weeks of campaigning.
Johnson then contacted David Ross, founder of the telecommunications company Carphone Warehouse and owner of one of the Mosquito villas. This important donor of the Conservatives (the Prime Minister's party), ended up finding him one, the Villa Indigo, according to several British media. On the Mustique-island.com site, you can visit it thanks to a short video, admire its two swimming pools, its three rooms bathed in light, its terrace with a plunging view of the Atlantic Ocean.
A former pirate lair, the island was acquired in 1958 by a British aristocrat, Colin Tennant. At the time, it was covered in jungle and infested with mosquitoes. After a few agricultural trials, Mr. Tennant decided to transform it into a haven for millionaires. And offered a few hectares of land to Margaret, the queen's younger sister, who fell in love with the place. She built one of the island's first villas – Les Jolies Eaux – there, now for rent, 37,500 dollars (34,500 euros) per week between January and the end of April, not to mention the 21% local tax (it is also visitable on Mustique-island.com).
Bling-bling getaway
Mick Jagger also built there in the process, as did David Bowie, who bought the delirious Villa Mandalay there. The only local bar, the Basil Bar, sees everything the UK counts as VIP, and even William and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who love to stay on the island. They returned with their three children in the summer of 2019. Their eldest son George celebrated his 6 years there.
