For years, Sir Richard Branson’s Necker Island has served as a luxurious getaway for the elite, including Barack and Michelle Obama, Princess Diana, Robert De Niro, Kate Winslet, Kevin Costner and more. But behind the picturesque paradise lies a dark past. From natural disasters to an unexpected death, the 74-acre private island in the British Virgin Islands has a history of mayhem.
The most recent tragedy occurred in the early hours on Aug. 30.
According to the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force (RVIPF), emergency services were alerted to a fatal incident on Saturday. A man was transported to the Dr. D. Orlando Smith Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
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Another individual was treated for non-life-threatening injuries sustained during the incident.
“We extend our deepest condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of the deceased,” the acting Commissioner of Police Jacqueline Vanterpool said in a statement. “This is a tragic event, and the RVIPF is committed to conducting a thorough investigation.”
A representative for Branson did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Branson purchased Necker Island in 1979 for $180,000, per Branson’s Virgin website.
According to the mogul, he “had been madly trying to come up with a way to impress a girl I had fallen for,” so when he learned an island was for sale in the British Virgin Islands, he contacted the realtor.
“We were still in the early days of Virgin Records, and I by no means had the cash to buy an island,” he continued. “Luckily, the realtor didn’t know this and offered me an all expenses paid trip to see the islands that weekend. I agreed to go on one condition – if I could bring a guest.”
Branson was originally quoted $6 million but couldn’t afford it at the time. He wrote that a year later nobody had made an offer, and with Virgin Records doing better, he bought the island for just $180,000. He explained, “the only condition was that I would need to build a resort on the island within four years.”
But it was not all smooth sailing in paradise.
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In 2011, Branson’s residence was struck by lightning during a tropical storm that ignited a house fire. Twenty guests, including Kate Winslet, fled the house to safety.
“My son Sam and nephew Jack rushed to the house and helped get everyone out, and many thanks to Kate Winslet for helping to carry my 90-year-old mum out of the main house to safety,” Branson wrote at the time of the incident, crediting the “Titanic” star for saving his mom, Eve.
“My mum is 90 and can walk, but it was more just to speed the process up than anything else. But anyway, she was great. She swept her up into her arms and got them out of the house as fast as possible,” Branson told The Telegraph at the time. “Talking to her, she said it’s like being in a film set where you’re waiting for the words ‘cut’ but they just don’t come. So it was quite surreal for her to be in a real-life situation.”
However, Eve recalled a different story.
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“Oh no! I’m sick of this story,” she told The Guardian in 2014. “It was the hurricane of hurricanes, and we were on fire. And we would have all been burnt alive if it wasn’t for my grandsons. It was four or five in the morning, and they went around getting everyone out of bed. I remember saying: ‘I’d better put my mac on’ because I wanted to cover up and Jack [her grandson] saying: ‘No, not right now.’
“Anyway, I’d just about got outside and the rain was pouring down, and I didn’t have my contact lenses in. But I was making my way out, and Kate and her two children were behind me. Then she just sort of picked me up and took me down four steps and that was it. I’m sorry, I can’t make a story out of it.”
Six years later, Necker Island faced severe damage in September 2017 during Hurricane Irma.
In a blog post for Virgin, the billionaire said he had “never seen anything like” Hurricane Irma and added that it was a “traumatic time.”
Branson explained that while the extent of the damage still needed to be assessed, “whole houses and trees have disappeared” and “bathroom and bedroom doors and windows have flown 40 feet away.”
“Much of the buildings and vegetation on Necker has been destroyed or badly damaged,” Branson wrote at the time, but his foundation Virgin Unite was already at work to repair the damage.
Despite the havoc, the island has also been a place to unite families and loved ones.
Last year, Costner and singer Jewel were photographed on the island at a tennis fundraiser for the Inspiring Children Foundation, an organization started by Jewel, and, according to the Daily Mail, Branson was the matchmaker.
In the 1990s, Princess Diana and her family – including Prince William, Prince Harry and her mother Frances Shand Kydd – enjoyed the holidays on the island.
Former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama stayed on Necker Island in February 2017.
In a post on Virgin’s website, Branson wrote that he invited the couple to the island for a “complete break” after Obama’s two presidential terms.
“It was a huge honour to be able to invite President Barack and Michelle Obama down to the British Virgin Islands for a complete break after Barack finished his second term as President and the family left the White House,” Branson wrote.
