Where will Bill and Melinda Gates's children live? Post-divorce, they are on mother's side, angry with father
Bill Gates and his wife Melinda Gates revealed earlier this week that they are getting a divorce. This bombshell revelation, where they said, “We no longer believe we can grow together as a couple in the next phase of our lives,” however, was planned for a different date originally.
Bill and Melinda have three children. The couple welcomed their first child, daughter Jennifer Katharine Gates, in 1996. Son Rory John Gates was born in 1999, followed by younger daughter Phoebe Adele Gates in 2002. Hours after her parents confirmed their split, Jennifer said in a statement, “It’s been a challenging stretch of time for our whole family. I’m still learning how to best support my own process and emotions as well as family members at this time."
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The medical student who graduated from Stanford University in 2018 with a human biology degree and has gone on to attend medical school in New York City, further said, “Please know that your kind words and support mean the world to me.”
As per a TMZ report, a source close to the Gates family said that they had a plan to announce the divorce back in March. This plan, as per the source, included renting a remote, private island where the entire family could avoid the media once the announcement was made. TMZ reported that Melinda had rented Calivigny Island in Grenada for $132,000 a night.
The plan was for Melinda and the kids, as well as their significant others, to come to the island -- everyone except Bill. As per the celebrity gossip site, everyone in the family already knew that Bill and Melinda were divorcing. And, “virtually everyone in the family” reportedly took Melinda's side. The whole family was reportedly very angry at Bill, and that's why he wasn't invited.
Why was the announcement delayed? As per TMZ, lawyers for both Bill and Melinda were trying to hash out a divorce settlement -- certain outstanding issues couldn't be resolved at the time of the trip. Melinda and the rest of the family (except Bill) went on the trip anyway.
Given what the sources have said, it is obvious that once the divorce is done, the kids will stay with their mother and not their father. The Gates' marriage was "irretrievably broken" as per their divorce documents. It was Melinda who filed for the divorce.
"The marriage is irretrievably broken," the documents said. "We ask the court to dissolve our marriage and find that our marital community ended on the date stated in our separation contract."
Melinda had previously admitted that being with Gates was often "incredibly hard”. She told The Sunday Times in 2019 when the couple marked 25 years of marriage: “When he was having trouble making the decision about getting married, he was incredibly clear that it was not about me, it was about ‘Can I get the balance right between work and family life?’”
