WHY THE A-LIST ARE FLOCKING TO THE COTSWOLDS

As celebrities from the Beckhams to Ellen DeGeneres join royals and billionaires in this elite enclave of the quintessential English countryside, we find out how it's turned into the British Beverly Hills

-  SOPHIE HAMILTON

With its picturesque rolling hills, honeyhued chocolate-box cottages and cosy pubs on quaint country lanes, the Cotswolds was England's idyllic quiet corner the ultimate unspoiled weekend retreat.

But now, with the arrival of A-list names such as David and Victoria Beckham and Princess Beatrice to join residents Kate Moss, Zara Tindall and Simon Cowell in this beautiful area of the West of England, the formerly under-thecelebrity-radar location is being transformed into the countryside playground of the elite - and the UK's stealth wealth HQ From hedge funds to hedgerows, some of the country's most famous residents are decamping to Cotswolds villages with increasingly soughtafter postcodes. The crème de la crème of the jet set have turned the likes of Chipping Norton and Burford into the most exclusive rural region in the UK.

And now, with Hollywood star Ellen DeGeneres and her wife Portia de Rossi moving to the area, this billionaire's playground has gone global.

Nicholas Rudge, residential sales director at Savills estate agents in Banbury, tells HELLO! that the stunning enclave is awash with billionaire families, drawn by the area's beauty as well as the locals' penchant for discretion.

UNSPOILT ENGLAND

"The Cotswolds has become hugely fashionable because money has poured out of London," he says. "The region is safe, it's civilised, it's protected; it can't be overdeveloped, as it's an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

"If you come from a Georgian or Victorian house in London but you grew up in the country, there's this romantic image of pubs with fires and long walks with dogs, and that's exactly what the Cotswolds offers.