Mustique

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Coordinates: 12°52′N 61°11′W / 12.867, -61.183
Mustique
— Private Island —
Location of Mustique
Map showing the location of Mustique within the Grenadines
Country	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Island chain	the Grenadines
Owner	the Mustique Company
European Discovery	15th century by Spanish sailors
Area
- Total	2.2 sq mi (5.7 km²)
Population
- Total	500
- Peak season	1,300
Website: The Mustique Company

Mustique is a small private island in the West Indies on the edge of the Caribbean Sea. The island is one of a group of islands called the Grenadines, most of which form part of the country of St Vincent and the Grenadines.

The island of Mustique is owned by the Mustique Company, which in turn is owned by the island's home owners. The island has approximately 90 private villas, many of which are available for weekly rentals through the Mustique Company. There are also two privately-owned hotels on the island (The Cotton House and Firefly). Because of its luxury and isolation, Mustique has over the years attracted a number of the rich and famous: Noel Gallagher, Princess Margaret, Mick Jagger, Bryan Adams, Shania Twain, Kate Moss, Felix Dennis, James V. Kimsey, David Bowie, Tommy Hilfiger, Hugh Grant, and Robert Worcester. Those who still have homes on the island can sometimes be seen at Basil's Beach Bar.

Queen Elizabeth II made a private visit to Mustique in the 1960's [1]

The history of the island of Mustique, and of the Grenadines in general, dates back to the 15th century when Spanish sailors first sighted this more or less linear group of small rocky islands and named them 'Los Pájaros' or 'the birds', because they resembled a small flock of birds scattered across the sea in flight. During the seventeenth century the islands were renamed the Grenadines by pirates, who used the sheltered bays to hide their ships and treasure. The islands were later utilised by European planters to grow sugar cane, up until the development in the nineteenth century of sugar beet, a crop which could be grown successfully in Europe, thus dramatically lessening the worldwide demand for tropical sugar. Mustique's sugar plantations were abandoned and eventually swallowed up by scrub, leaving remnants such as the sugar mill at 'Endeavor' and its 'Cotton House.'

Mustique was purchased in 1958 by Lord Glenconner, Colin Tennant, 3rd Baron Glenconner, under whose guidance the island began to be developed. HRH The Princess Margaret accepted his gift of a ten-acre plot of land as a wedding present in 1960, and she built a residence called Les Jolies Eaux. In 1989 Mustique island was transformed from a family estate into a private limited company with the homeowners as shareholders.

The island has one nightspot which is attended both by Vincentians and the "jet set", and that is Basil's Bar, which is well-known internationally. Local entrepreneur Basil Charles has been on the island for over 30 years, and in addition to the bar, Basil owns the clothing boutique, the antique shop and the wine store. Basil's Bar is also home to the Mustique Blues Festival which features artists in many modern music genres from all over the world. Proceeds from the sale of the festival's CDs and t-shirts fund the Basil Charles' Educational Fund, an organization that gives educational chances to children in St. Vincent and the Grenadines who would otherwise not be able to afford school.

The island covers 1,400 acres (5.7 km² or 2.2 sq. miles) and it has several coral reefs. The land fauna includes tortoises, herons and many other species. The year-round population of about 500 live in the villages of Lovell, Britannia Bay and Dover.

In 1971 the SS Antilles struck a reef off the island and sank.