As Kate Middleton and Prince William spend half-term in Mustique, why royals love the Caribbean island

It had been thought that after missing the BAFTAs 2024, Catherine, Princess of Wales and her husband Prince William would be at this year’s ceremony. However, the couple skipped the ceremony and according to the Mail on Sunday, “They are all believed to have flown business class on the same British Airways flight – the protocol that heirs to the throne fly separately having been relaxed in recent years.

“A source says they flew to Saint Lucia before taking a private flight to Mustique, which was famously the favourite hideaway of the late Princess Margaret as well as a beloved escape for A-list celebrities.”

The Mail on Sunday also reported that Catherine, Princess of Wales’s mother Carole Middleton, who recently celebrated her 70th birthday, is thought to have arrived there before the arrival of her daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren. Ten years before, she had celebrated her 60th there.

The Prince and Princess of Wales have been visiting Mustique for many years and when they travelled there in 2019, it coincided with Prince George’s sixth birthday. Princess Catherine, who is a keen photographer, released a picture of Prince George in Mustique, dressed in a green polo top and shorts.

The royals and in particular the late Princess Margaret had a close affinity to Mustique. She hosted glamorous parties at her villa Les Jolies Eaux there and in 1996, she gave it to her son David Linley, it was later sold in 2001.

Hello! Magazine reported that “David sold the property after his mother's death to American businessman Jim Murray - and it has since been transformed into a postcard-perfect retreat reserved for the most lavish of travellers who require the same peace and privacy which once lured in the royals.”

It is not only Princess Margaret who was a fan of Mustique but the late Queen who was accompanied by Prince Philip there in 1966, 1977 and 1985. There are also many celebrities who love visiting Mustique, including Mick Jagger and his then partner Jerry Hall. The couple had a Hindu wedding in Bali, but their marriage was later annulled because it was not legally binding.

Supermodel Kate Moss is believed to have had a pre-50th birthday in Mustique back in 2024. British Vogue reported at the time that “Mustique is also relatively low-key. And that’s what makes it so desirable. Yes, it’s glitzy, and yes, it’s starry, but it’s not stiff and gawker-y in the way that St Barts, another glitzy and starry Caribbean locale, can be. In Mustique, paparazzi aren’t really a worry, there’s no dress code, and you’ll often get invited to villas of people you’ve never met (and that, still, you may never meet even if you do attend, so open are the doors).”