Squawking fowl spill onto an ancient byway as a farmer passing on a tractor raises a swaying forearm in greeting.
Soon the bell tower of St Mary’s, framed by cloud-dappled blue, heaves into sight and I’m among honey-coloured limestone cottages, tiny shops and irresistible pubs.
The market town of Charlbury in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds is at its picture-perfect best.
It feels like the very heart of the country, a sepia-toned bygone England. But trouble is brewing.
Don’t tell the A-listers who’ve been hoovering up houses here, but The Mail on Sunday can reveal that a reality show inspired by the Real Housewives Of… franchise is bringing its unique brand of bling to this countryside idyll and is set to star Princess Beatrice’s best friend Gabriela Peacock.
And not everyone is happy. Not by a country mile.
For nearly 20 years the Real Housewives show has charted the bitchy, glitzy lives of the female rich from California to Cheshire. There’s even a series planned for London.
And it is elegant Charlbury, on the edge of Wychwood Forest in the Evenlode Valley, that is said to have caught the eye of producers at Naked Productions, which makes Escape To The Country, Grand Designs and Love In The Countryside for its umbrella company Fremantle.
Don’t tell the A-listers who’ve been hoovering up houses here, but The Mail on Sunday can reveal that a reality show inspired by the Real Housewives Of… franchise is bringing its unique brand of bling to this countryside idyll and is set to star Princess Beatrice ‘s best friend Gabriela Peacock (pictured)
Another rumoured name to have signed up to the show is Sophie Stanbury (pictured), who has appeared in Ladies Of London
Producers ‘begged’ to use Estelle Manor (pictured), the hotel and private members’ club six miles from Charlbury that is at the centre of the super-rich Cotswolds set
Locals describe the town as a ‘hidden gem’.
Maybe not for much longer. Preparation for the pilot episode has already begun with Gabriela, who is thought to be the first housewife on board.
She is something of a ‘coup’ for producers, according to my source, given how close she is to Beatrice – both as a friend and neighbour, for they live a few miles from Charlbury.
The A-lister nutritionist is said to be ‘wildly excited’ by the show and telling friends it will be a ‘classy’ series, but despite the hopes of producers she will not spill the beans on Beatrice.
My source says the producers promise ‘it won’t be crass or intrusive and won’t have the catfights and drama of the Real Housewives.
‘Instead, they will focus on the women having real careers and not just being bimbos.’
Plum Sykes, the society author who wrote Wives Like Us – the hit 2024 novel about women living in the fictional Cotswolds villages of Little Bottom, Middle Bottom and Great Bottom – is also said to be on board.
She was typically discreet when I cornered her – telling me: ‘I can’t say anything at all at the moment but I hope very much to be able to speak to you next week.’
One thing we do know is it won’t be called The Real Housewives Of The Cotswolds, because the production company does not own the Real Housewives copyright.
Perhaps The Ladies Of The Cotswolds is nearer the mark.
My source continues: ‘They aren’t ready to announce anything but they are working on a pilot based on that show, which will take a number of days to make and they are in the process of scouting shooting locations.
Cotswolds hotel owners, publicans and restaurateurs have thus far proved decidedly sniffy about granting permission for filming (stock image of biscuit Hunter wellies)
‘At the moment they are going to cast members’ houses and filming “master interviews”, which are an introduction of the show’s key stars.’
Standing on Sheep Street in the middle of the town, I decide to canvas opinion.
‘What? That reality TV thing? Here?’ splutters a woman identifying herself as an ‘authentic resident and septuagenarian’. Her nostrils dilate as if to shoot out dragon jets of flame.
‘You’ve ruined my day. It’s damnable enough that we’re already overrun with Americans.
‘This will make it a million times worse.’
Perhaps it’s inevitable that the reality TV juggernaut would arrive in this region of quintessential rural charm that has, after all, become synonymous with wealth and glamour.
Taylor Swift rented a cottage here on her recent tour, and the new kid on the block is Hollywood star Ellen DeGeneres, who has swapped being Montecito neighbours with Harry and Meghan for a life in the Cotswolds.
Far from the concerns of the mega-rich, I am told that the real housewives of Charlbury are squabbling over pre-school places – Little Monkeys on Church Street has a four-year waiting list.
I spotted a very glamorous blonde housewife there signing up for a place – notably, she hadn’t yet given birth to the pupil-in-waiting.
The market town of Charlbury in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds is at its picture-perfect best. Pictured: Church Street, Charlbury, Oxfordshire
Sources close to the programme maintain that unlike some of its tackier iterations, the new show will be a classy affair and cite friend-of-the-royals Gabriela’s involvement as evidence.
‘It’s going to be posher than Made In Chelsea,’ says a source. ‘There’s an appetite with broadcasters at the moment to get a window into this world.
‘You’ve got Ladies Of London, which is being rekindled on [US cable network] Bravo, you’ve got Real Housewives Of London, and that’s being made by Monkey Kingdom, and then you’ve got this Housewives Of The Cotswolds series.
‘There’s going to be a surge of those types of shows this summer.’
But the production company behind it has already hit a snag.
The original Real Housewives series follows women dealing with the day-to-day realities of their lives, with many set pieces centred on alcohol-and-argument social events, which require a suitable backdrop.
Cotswolds hotel owners, publicans and restaurateurs have thus far proved decidedly sniffy, however, about granting permission for filming.
Britain’s so-called hottest pub, The Bull at Charlbury, was one of the first approached. But I’m told owner Phil Winser, a pal of Princess Beatrice who is married to supermodel Dree Hemingway, was scathing.
He is said to have turned down all offers of payment and essentially told them he wouldn’t do it for all the tea in China.
There seems to be understandable suspicion in the village about producers’ claims that it will be a wholesome version of Real Housewives.
Producers then ‘begged’ to use Estelle Manor, the hotel and private members’ club six miles from Charlbury that is at the centre of the super-rich Cotswolds set.
‘Estelle Manor laughed them out of town,’ says a source. ‘It is arguably the most exclusive establishment in the UK, let alone the Cotswolds.
‘They would never allow cameras inside.’
Jeremy Clarkson told The Mail on Sunday he doubts producers will even bother asking him to use his pub The Farmer’s Dog
Maybe the show would have more luck at another elegant inn, The Bell, at the top of Church Street in Charlbury. But its owner, Lady Bamford, who also runs the Daylesford Organic farm shops chain, is having none of it.
A member of staff says: ‘We’ve heard all about it but… Lady Bamford would never allow filming here. It’s too trash TV for her.’
Another source says: ‘They started searching for a pub in which to film the pilot around Charlbury, but there’s nowhere that will have them.’
Jeremy Clarkson tells me he doubts they’d even bother asking him to use his pub The Farmer’s Dog.
Meanwhile, Soho Farmhouse, the rural offshoot of the members- only club in London, has a strict no-cameras rule, which it won’t bend, even for Gabriela Peacock and her crew.
My source says: ‘The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills is escapism, pure luxury TV and that’s exactly what this one will be like.
‘It’s picture-perfect in Charlbury. But unlike in the States, the Cotswolds has got so grand that they don’t want to accommodate filming or focus any more attention on their exclusive enclave.’
Luckily, Gabriela is so wealthy she can host everyone at her home. She sold a £13million house in Notting Hill, west London, to buy in the Cotswolds.
Meanwhile, Soho Farmhouse (pictured), the rural offshoot of the members- only club in London, has a strict no-cameras rule, which it won’t bend, even for Gabriela Peacock and her crew
The source adds: ‘Gabriela’s only fairly recently moved to the Cotswolds. She bought a big pile 20 minutes from Charlbury and I think quite near Beatrice as well, so they can film at hers.’
They will be spoilt for choice when it comes to the backdrop for summer scenes. This designated area of natural beauty covering nearly 800 square miles attracts 25million visitors a year.
The US novelist Armistead Maupin set the latest instalment of his Tales Of The City series here. And last year’s TV adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s bonkbuster Rivals was set in the fictional Cotswolds county of Rutshire.
Another rumoured name to have signed up to the show is Sophie Stanbury, who has appeared in Ladies Of London. She was with Gabriela last week, in the South of France, cooking up plotlines for the Real Housewives pilot.
Married to a hedge-fund manager, Gabriela is the woman to whom Prince Harry and Princess Eugenie are said to have ‘turned to for their royal wedding glow’.
A source close to the new show said: ‘Gabriela Peacock is a proper society girl. She’s not pretending, she really is best friends with Princess Beatrice.
That’s why people are hoping this will go beyond Made In Chelsea, or even Real Housewives Of Cheshire. It will be more like Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills.’
As for Fremantle, a spokesman confirmed tantalisingly: ‘The show is in its early stages.’
Just don’t tell the locals.