Star Wars creator George Lucas has bought a £40million home in London and is hoping to spend more time in the capital, according to reports.
The American film-maker is understood to have bought a property in St John’s Wood in September, with the sale believed to be one of the most expensive property deals in the UK this year.
The 81-year-old is rumoured to be critical of US President Donald Trump, a source close to the deal explained.
The mansion was formerly owned by a senior City lawyer, according to Bloomberg, who first reported the sale.
In September, Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan said that a record number of Americans had applied for British citizenship after Mr Trump returned to the White House.
Data released by the Home Office in May revealed more than 6,600 Americans applied for British citizenship in the 12 months leading up to March — a 26 per cent increase on the year before and the highest number since records began in 2004.
Almost a third of applications were sent in between January and March this year, the first three months of Trump’s second term.
Silicon Valley investor Matt Cohler is understood to have bought a detached house in Notting Hill for about £22 million in spring.
The investor had backed Mr Trump’s opponents in last year's Presidential Elections, according to Bloomberg.
A member of the multibillionaire family behind Thomson Reuters also agreed to buy a Mayfair apartment for about £25 million earlier this year.
Fashion designer and film-maker Tom Ford also bought an £80million mansion in Chelsea last November.
Lucas, who sold his company Lucasfilm to Disney for $4.1 billion in 2012, also owns a 2,500-acre ranch in Northern California, known as Skywalker Ranch, and a villa in Carpinteria, California, which the director bought for $28 million in 2019.
