The wedding of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie was said to have been a “family affair”, held in the chapel of a château in Provence and kept secret from fans, paparazzi and even the bride’s father. Then the newlyweds sold the photographs to People magazine.
“The entire family’s celebration is featured in this week’s issue of People, in conjunction with Hello! magazine internationally,” the US magazine announced. Hello!, which promised to devote 15 pages to the couple’s “wedding album”, printed a photograph of the bride ascending a white staircase and a picture, apparently from the ceremony.
Jolie wore a sheer white gown by Donatella Versace and a veil embroidered by Luigi Massi, a friend of the family who had stitched in sketches by their six children.
A motorbike, the Eiffel tower and a monstrous mouse-like creature could be seen scattered across the translucent fabric, among pink flowers and portraits of the children.
The words “buttock fattock” appeared at Jolie’s rear. Followers of Jolie and Pitt’s decade-long courtship examined these strange runes like archaeologists deciphering the inscriptions on the Rosetta stone, wondering what they might mean.
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Jolie had previously said that she would seek to involve her children in every aspect of her wedding and speculated that this might mean holding it in paintballing camouflage. She said that the children had helped them to write their vows. “I wanted the kids to be a part of everything, including the dress, because that’s our family,” she said.
Pitt appeared to have taken rather less trouble with his attire. He was said to have worn a suit “from his closet”, although he had forgotten a tie and had to borrow one from one of his sons.
Some observers bemoaned the relatively conservative nature of Jolie’s gown — recalling the necklace she had worn during her wedding to Billy Bob Thornton, her second husband, containing a vial of his blood. The burden of making a fashion statement appeared to have been left to Shiloh, the couple’s eight-year-old daughter, who served as a ring bearer in a suit, top hat and shorts.
A spokeswoman for People declined to say how much the magazine had paid for the photographs and a representative for the couple declined to comment. In the past, the couple have sold the magazine baby pictures of Shiloh, as well as of their twins, Knox and Vivienne, who were born in 2008.
Some people had wondered if the pictures would be released at all, citing a recent spate of private celebrity weddings that remained private. “But they will give the money to charity,” said Professor Samir Husni, director of the magazine innovation centre at the University of Mississippi’s school of journalism. “They know what they are doing.”
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It is thought that the couple used their own photographer, rather than involving the publications beforehand. A spokeswoman for People declined to comment on “editorial processes”.