California Rumor

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have taken their clan ice-skating, in a visit that was executed with military precision.

The celebrity couple hired out a low-key ice rink for four of their children and whizzed around the ice together on a family day out.

The trip - believed to be part of a birthday celebration for adopted son Pax - was so shrouded in secrecy that members of staff at the skating centre were made to sign confidentiality agreements, promising not to reveal details of the Jolie-Pitts' visit.

The employees were forbidden from taking photographs, instructed not to ask for autographs and told to ‘back off' if they got too close to the film stars.

Pitt, 45, and Jolie, 34, privately hired the Iceland Ice Skating Center in Van Nuys, Los Angeles County, on Friday afternoon.

The couple spent more than an hour helping eight-year-old Maddox, four-year-old Zahara, three-year-old Shiloh and Pax - who turned six yesterday (Sunday) to skate. The family then snuck away unnoticed out of a side exit.

Members of staff at Iceland said they had been desperate to take pictures of the Brangelina clan, but had signed agreements preventing them from doing so.

‘The visit was completely secret,' one worker said. ‘We had to sign confidentiality agreements as soon as we were told about it.

‘We weren't allowed to take pictures, ask for their autographs or tell anyone that they were coming.

‘We all really wanted to take photos as souvenirs, but we just couldn't.'

The couple's bodyguards were even on hand to ensure that no one got too close to the family during their session on the ice.

‘If anyone got too close they were told to back off,' the employee said.

It is not known how much Pitt and Jolie paid to privately hire Iceland for the afternoon.

Normal private sessions at the rink cost $350 per hour. A message on the rink's website stated it would be closed to the public between 12pm and 4pm on the day of the celebrity couple's trip.