A comedy that seems fit for a political gag was born from US Vice President JD Vance‘s summer vacation in the Cotswolds. What started out as a family vacation in the English countryside — with his wife, Usha, and their three kids — has turned into a village commotion, police convoys, and (possibly most embarrassing of all) a supposed refusal of service at a nearby pub that Meghan Markle’s florist owns.
When a reservation for the Vance family had been made, employees at The Bull Pub in Charlbury, a haunt for politicians and celebrities, threatened to leave in large numbers, according to reports in The Daily Mail and entertainment gossip website Popbitch.
In the Cotswolds, where Vance’s vacation has already upset the locals, the episode has become the talk of the town. The Vice President has been escorted by convoys of police cars and hovering helicopters, which have clogged small country roads and irritated locals.
High-profile visitors are nothing new to The Bull (Kamala Harris was there just last year), but the idea that JD Vance was ignored by its staff led to controversy. The rebellious employees all said that they would not report to work if they had to serve Vance and his wife, according to Popbitch. The Bull turned away his business due to staff grievances and an upsurge of negative media coverage.
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On the other hand, Vance’s team has made an effort to downplay the drama.
“The Bull was included as a potential option for lunch, but the family ultimately decided not to go,” a spokesperson for JD Vance insisted. “There was never any indication from the Bull that he or his family were not welcome.”
Even so, the visuals are indisputable: JD Vance did not enter Meghan Markle’s florist’s pub, whether on purpose or by choice. JD Vance has been a divisive personality in Washington as well ever since he took office as vice president in January 2025. He was once an outspoken opponent of Donald Trump and used to call him “America’s Hitler,” but he is now Trump’s closest political ally!
JD Vance called Donald Trump “America’s Hitler“
Do you agree? Yes / No / Comment pic.twitter.com/AhlXe1INZ1
— Lara reads banned books in Florida📚🇺🇸 (@MadeInTheUSANJ) October 2, 2024
His “holiday,” according to some, isn’t really a holiday. Journalist Helen Kirwan-Taylor, who lives close to Dean, where the Vances are staying, wrote in The i that the vice president was not just looking for a place to relax: “No one comes to the British version of the Hamptons (…) to listen to birdsong. JD Vance (…) has chosen the axis of privilege, wealth and power (…) for one reason only: influence.”
Locals seem to agree. Residents have complained that security measures have them “sealed off”, satirical billboards ridiculing Vance have started appearing in nearby villages, and even TV personality Jeremy Clarkson weighed in on the mayhem.
“JD Vance has taken over my village – send help,” local Jonathan Mazower told The Telegraph.
Activists in the UK installed a poster in the Cotswolds to greet JD Vance as he takes yet another family vacation pic.twitter.com/M5oHf2YMXP
— Marco Foster (@MarcoFoster_) August 12, 2025
Vance may have hoped for a relaxing vacation, but the trip brought attention to his odd relationship with the public both at home and internationally. His supporters, too, may brush the pub incident aside as minor. Still, a local establishment being against him contributes to his issue as a politician who finds it challenging to balance his elite power with his outsider “Hillbilly Elegy” persona.
While JD Vance eventually dropped his pint at The Bull, he created a storm that the Cotswolds won’t forget!
