Owner of JD Vance’s U.K. Vacation Rental Apologizes to Neighbors for ‘Circus’ Caused by His Visit

Vice President JD Vance and his security team are facing criticism again this week because their family vacation in the United Kingdom caused problems for the neighbors near their rental home.

Last week, Vance, 41, and his wife Usha, 39, visited British Foreign Secretary David Lammy at his home in Kent. After that, they took their children—Ewan, 8, Vivek, 5, and Mirabel, 3—to stay at an old manor house in the Cotswolds, an area known for its beautiful countryside.

But before they arrived, the Secret Service caused some disruptions in the small village of Charlbury, which has about 3,000 residents. They set up checkpoints, put up a large antenna behind the house, and created a temporary helipad in a nearby field.

The owner of the rental house, Pippa Hornby, apologized to her neighbors for the trouble. She called the situation a “circus” and hoped the Vance family’s stay wouldn’t be too disruptive.

Pippa and her husband Johnny bought the house in 2017 and live in a fancy and peaceful part of England, sometimes called “the Hamptons of the UK.”

This chaotic trip comes just a week after Vance was criticized for a birthday boating trip in Ohio. His security team reportedly asked to raise the water level of a local river to make it easier for him and his family to kayak.

Reports said the Secret Service asked the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to change how much water flowed into the Little Miami River before Vance’s trip on August 2. Pictures showed Vance kayaking on the river that day.

The Army Corps said the change was made to “support safe navigation” for Vance’s group. But some sources said the water was raised to create “ideal kayaking conditions.”

The Secret Service said they can’t talk about their protection plans but said they worked with local agencies to keep the trip safe. They also said the water change wouldn’t harm the river’s levels upstream or downstream.

A spokesman for Vance later said the vice president didn’t know the river had been raised.

“The Secret Service often takes protective actions without the Vice President or his staff knowing, like last weekend,” he said.

Vance probably hoped to keep a low profile during his UK visit. This is especially important because President Donald Trump will be making a state visit to the UK in September.

Trump’s visit will be his second official trip to the UK as president. He first visited the late Queen Elizabeth in 2019. This time, he and the First Lady, Melania, will meet King Charles and other royals at Windsor Castle from September 17 to 19.

When Trump was invited in June, a palace official said the King “has known President Trump for many years and looks forward to hosting him.”

However, some reports say King Charles and his team are worried about how Trump might behave during his visit. This is because of Trump’s recent comments on UK immigration and protests against him during his trip to Scotland last month.

While in Scotland, Trump met with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer at Trump’s golf course in South Ayrshire. Protesters held signs supporting Palestine and criticizing Starmer.

Nearby in Aberdeen, a truck projected a famous photo of Trump with Jeffrey Epstein, with a sign that said, “Welcome to Scotland, Donald.”