HAVING grown accustomed to streets lined with palm trees in Bel-Air, Beyoncé and Jay-Z are now looking for a change of scenery.
The Sun Online reported this week how is swapping her rhinestones and sparkles for tweed and Barbour jackets as she ups sticks to the Cotswolds with her rapper hubby.
Beyoncé is swapping her rhinestones and sparkles for tweed and Barbour jackets as she ups sticks to the Cotswolds with her rapper hubby
Taylor Swift rented a £3.3million cottage in the Cotswolds, near Chipping Norton, during the UK leg of her Eras tour last year
Places like Bourton-on-the-Hill, Gloucs, seem like a rural English hideaway to US celebs
According to insiders, the power couple have received planning permission to build a “spectacular rural estate” on 58 acres of land on the outskirts of Wiggington — one of the many idyllic villages in Oxfordshire.
And while it may be a fair few air miles from the couple’s primary LA residence, is the perfect place for them to settle down with their children .
After all, England’s “chocolate box” towns and villages have quietly established themselves in the past few years as the ultimate enclave for the celebrity jet set.
Their love of skyscrapers and Hollywood red carpets has been replaced by a desire for exclusive, old-school luxury and country manors.
And the demand is growing as US A-listers descend on and its surrounding counties, including Oxfordshire and .
‘Blinking pantomime’
Last year, comedian made the move in protest after was re-elected into office.
They have since been keeping their millions of followers updated with twee snapshots of them riding horses, feeding chickens and generally living the life of countrywomen in the Cotswolds.
Speaking during an event at Cheltenham’s Everyman Theatre in July, Ellen said: “We’re just not used to seeing this kind of beauty.
“The villages and the towns and the architecture — everything is charming and it’s just a simpler way of life.”
They’re not alone. Last year, rented a £3.3million cottage in the Cotswolds, near Chipping Norton, during the UK leg of her Eras tour.
Insiders revealed it reminded the pop megastar of her rural childhood spent growing up on a 15-acre Christmas tree farm in Pennsylvania.
A source said: “I think a piece of her always longed to reconnect not just with the countryside, but with her younger self who she left there.”
But some American visitors haven’t been quite as well-received as others. US Vice President caused uproar after holidaying with his family in Dean, Oxon.
Many residents took issue with the road closures, sniffer dogs, enforced ID checks, and the 20-vehicle motorcade in their streets, with one local saying the village had seen “one blinking pantomime after the other” during his heavily policed stay.
Thankfully, the majority of high-profile visitors don’t require so many bells and whistles — and that’s just how the locals like it.
One Oxfordshire resident said: “We are used to the great and good here. Before David Cameron moved in, we had former Tory Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd and he was lovely.
We are used to the great and good here. Before David Cameron moved in, we had former Tory Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd and he was lovely
Oxfordshire resident
“We have Ben Kingsley in Spelsbury and we see him in the woods walking his dog.”
In fact, many home-grown celebrities have ties to the Cotswolds.
In 2016, bought their £12million converted barn in Great Tew near Chipping Norton and have since used it as a weekend retreat — as well as their permanent base during Covid.
David has said it’s his happy place, and the former footballer has become the ultimate welly-wearing gent.
Speaking about his country pile in his 2023 docuseries Beckham, the dad-of-four said: “I wanted a place where we could escape,” as he showed off their private swimming pool, football pitch and chicken coop.
He added: “As soon as I get into the countryside, I normally get into my whole country get-up.”
Jeremy Clarkson became one of Oxfordshire’s most famous poster boys after buying Curdle Hill Farm in Chadlington in 2009
David Beckham said: ‘I wanted a place where we could escape. As soon as I get into the countryside, I normally get into my whole country get-up’
Since then, the former diamond- flaunting Essex boy has fully embraced cardigans, bee-keeping and baking with an Aga.
David, who shares homes with Victoria in west London, Miami and Dubai, has also posed with a walking stick for Country Life magazine.
Other homegrown stars are just as happy to tread the cobbled streets of their pastoral homebase.
became one of Oxfordshire’s most famous poster boys after buying Curdle Hill Farm in Chadlington in 2009.
Now known as , it has become the focal point of — putting the Cotswolds even more into the spotlight.
The former presenter also opened The Farmer’s Dog pub nearby in 2023 — recognising the pulling power of the local land.
I wanted a place where we could escape. As soon as I get into the countryside, I normally get into my whole country get-up
David Beckham
Meanwhile, the socialites featured in the Real Housewives Of London on streaming service Hayu recently descended on the Cotswolds in a helicopter for an episode filled with drama and Champagne.
Then there is the area’s royal connection, with Princess Beatrice and husband Eduardo Mapelli Mozzi living in their £3.5million farmhouse, which comes complete with an outdoor swimming pool and tennis courts.
And infusing even more blue blood into the mix, Beatrice’s cousin and her husband Mike live around the corner, should she ever need a cup of sugar.
But what really makes the Cotswolds such an irresistible destination for the A-list?
Granted, the English countryside’s smell of cowpat and the sloshy mud doesn’t quite scream Tinseltown.
But scratch beneath the surface and you will find every luxury offering for a very glamorous lifestyle.
Soho Farmhouse, a private members’ club spanning 100 acres of land in , is one of the UK’s most fashionable destinations.
It has been a hangout for the likes of and , , , , , James Corden, and , who regularly go there for their Sunday lunch.
Tweed-wearing toff
It even played host to pop princess , who reportedly set up a makeshift studio on site earlier this year to record her new album Man’s Best Friend.
The A-list hotspot guarantees privacy — at a cost, with membership starting at £250 per month. And for our US visitors, they get the chance to live like a tweed-wearing toff by enjoying on-site activities such as horse riding and clay-pigeon shooting.
Likewise, the equally opulent , which is 30 minutes away from , has been drawing in millionaires thick and fast.
— daughter of deceased founder — wed British Olympic horse-jumping champ Harry Charles at the country club in Witney, Oxon.
I previously spent ten years in the Cotswolds, which I loved, but it was annoying bumping into people I cross the road to avoid in London
Liz Hurley
The New York Times described the venue as “peak quiet luxury” — evoking the fantasy that so many Americans have of English people parading around their country manors and ringing their bells for waiting staff.
American resident Audrey Ann Masur shares snapshots of her idyllic family life in the Cotswolds on .
She told her 12,000 followers: “We say, ‘It’s just so beautiful! Wow!’ every so often as we drive around,” adding she also loves the British “dry sense of humour” and the fact that “wellies are our children’s most worn footwear.”
Other visitors have also praised the -like surroundings of the woodlands, and how they feel like they are in a novel while walking in one of the picture-perfect villages.
But for every celeb who moves to the UK’s answer to or Cape Cod, there’s another famous face who dislikes how trendy the English countryside has become.
In 2015, sold her Gloucestershire pile for £9million, having bought it in 2002 for £3.3million.
She later told The Oldie magazine that she had grown tired of the area, admitting: “I previously spent ten years in the Cotswolds, which I loved, but it was annoying bumping into people I cross the road to avoid in London.”
Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi made the move in protest after Donald Trump was re-elected
Portia pictured riding a horse
Nevertheless, incoming Americans can expect to experience a version of Britain that, for many of us, only exists in the pages of Horse & Hound.
As for and — whose property portfolio also includes a mansion in the Hamptons and a condo in — the couple and their children will surely enjoy all the rustic luxury that the Cotswolds has to offer.
They may also have to cope with aspects of rural life, such as loud pipes and terrible central heating.
And if they’re really well- behaved, maybe will pop around with a welcome jar of his home-made honey.
Nobody can bee-keep like Beckham.
US Vice President JD Vance caused uproar after holidaying with his family in Dean, Oxon
Visitors have said how they feel like they are in a Jane Austen novel while walking in one of the picture-perfect villages 
