Who is Rory Farquharson? How Malia's boyfriend shot up Obama family's grocery bill by '30%' during quarantine
The Obama family has revealed some curious details about a guest they welcomed during the early pandemic days. In comments made on The Bill Simmons Podcast on Thursday, December 17, Barack Obama explained that Rory Farquharson, boyfriend of daughter Malia, was part of the family's early quarantining and noted his presence caused the family's grocery bill to shoot up by 30 percent.
"There was this whole visa thing, he had a job set up, and so we took him in," the former POTUS said on the podcast, adding, "And I didn’t want to like him, but he’s a good kid." Barack Obama expressed that Farquharson's diet was a staggering difference from what his family has been used to. Although Obama looked at the whole quarantine time from a positive angle, sharing he was able to spend time with his daughters, he did add, "The only thing you discover… [is] young men eat." He said, "It’s weird to watch them consume food. And my grocery bill went up about 30 percent."
Speaking of his earlier time in quarantine, Obama shared, "It's a blessing because all the teenage stuff is kind of gone now. They're just back and they love you again and they wanna spend time with you again. 'I think a lot of families we went through that first month where we were playing games every night, doing arts and crafts projects and then, slowly, they started to get a little bored with us."
But who is the mystery boyfriend? Here's what we know of Malia's bae.
Who is Rory Farquharson?
Farquharson is a British export to Harvard University and son of Charles and Catherine Farquharson, the chief executive of a London investment firm and an accountant, respectively. Rory and Malia are reportedly the same age of 21, according to Tatler, but Farquharson is enrolled in the academic year above his alleged girlfriend, on account of Malia having taken a gap year.
Farquharson has a strong track record of high performance at school. He attended Rugby, the £11,584-a-term boarding school and one of the poshest in England, where he represented the school in sports teams and even became Head Boy in his final year. He was also a member of its chemistry club, the Blue Bunsen Society. In 2016, he began studying law at Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Rory Farquharson is currently pursuing a financial career much like his parents. During the summer holidays of his university, he undertook an internship at the Centre for Democracy and Peace Building in Northern Ireland. The organization aims "to support the Northern Ireland peace process" in the hope of creating "a society with a shared sense of responsibility, opportunity and community."
The Farquharson family lives in a £1.6 million six-bed detached house in Woodbridge, Suffolk, and owns an additional property in London. The family also has a (albeit distant) royal connection -- a second cousin, Andrew Farquharson, who was a Queen’s courtier before becoming Assistant Master of the Household at Buckingham Palace.
Malia and Rory's relationship
Malia Obama and Rory Farquharson reportedly met at their shared university, Harvard, in 2017 when Malia was a freshman. During that same year, around fall, they attended a tailgate party together for the infamous Harvard-Yale rivalry football game.
The pair sparked a media frenzy after they were seen together kissing in a video shared by TMZ. It was unknown at the time who the mystery man Malia shared such affection with, but fans and the media have taken to the pair as a likable and attractive couple. Their relationship has clearly remained strong since, significant enough to be confirmed by Malia's ex-president dad.