Simon Cowell officially bids farewell to London as movers pack up his £45M Holland Park mansion after leaving the capital ‘because he no longer feels safe’ after string of home invasions

Simon Cowell has officially bid farewell to London after leaving the capital ‘because he no longer feels safe’. 

The music mogul, 63, has lived in London for most of his life but quietly sold his £45 million mansion in Holland Park last week to start a new life in the country with his partner Lauren Silverman, 46, and son Eric, nine.

On Tuesday, removal men got to work clearing out the star’s possessions, with two giant vans seen outside his sprawling abode. 

After owning the home for 16 years he was keen to make a move after enduring a string of alarming events, including home invasions by two intruders — one of whom stole £1million in jewellery.

Last month it was alleged that a criminal gang had sold the exact lock to his front door — which left him shocked and horrified. 

Moving out: Removal men got to work clearing out Simon Cowell’s possessions on Tuesday after he quietly sold his £45 million mansion in Holland Park last week

Bye bye: Simon has officially bid farewell to London after leaving the capital ‘because he no longer feels safe’

Cowell had spent £500,000 on security measures for the home, only to discover that a security expert had offered to sell a decoder which could unlock the steel front door ‘in seconds’.

The move out of London is part of a recalibration of his life.

In 2020, Cowell handed sole control of his record label, Syco Music, to Sony (which later shut it down).

Meanwhile, Syco Entertainment, the TV company which made The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent (BGT), no longer has offices in the UK and has radically downsized. It is now an entertainment assets and licensing company, while BGT is made by Thames.

This week Cowell announced a commercial deal with a mobile phone game and I understand that further similar money-spinning ad deals are in the pipeline.

Having started as a record company executive — and had great success with singing actors Robson Green and Jerome Flynn — he became famous as a judge on the 2001 ITV show Pop Idol.

He went on to found The X Factor and BGT franchises, which are globally successful.

He remains a judge on America’s Got Talent and Britain’s Got Talent, and last year launched a TikTok songwriting platform, StemDrop, in conjunction with Universal Music.

Packing up: After owning the home for 16 years he was keen to make a move after enduring a string of alarming events, with two giant vans seen outside his sprawling abode

Time to toast: Simon moving out of London is part of a recalibration of his life with a moving man holding what appeared to be a box full of wine glasses 

In 2015, a burglar stole jewellery and passports from Cowell’s Holland Park home while he and his family slept. 

In an impact statement to the court, Cowell said the break-in had left him in ‘constant fear’ that it could happen again and ‘may be worse next time’. 

In 2012, Cowell had to call security after a woman with a brick got into the bathroom of his house. His spokesman described the incident as ‘very frightening’.

Of the alleged plot to rob him this year, he said: ‘I was in total shock. The fact that it is possible for a person to obtain the software code to sell to someone — so they could rob the house my family live in — is disgusting. To even consider doing this is dangerous and reckless.’

Other celebrities who live nearby in Holland Park — where properties cost up to £50million — include David and Victoria Beckham, Ed Sheeran and Robbie Williams.

A friend of Cowell’s says that aside from the intrusions, and the subsequent security scare, he had become concerned about ‘street gangs’ and general safety in the neighbourhood.

He has a property portfolio around the world but after spending much of the pandemic in Malibu now prefers to be based in the UK.

Family first: Simon is start a new life in the country with his partner Lauren Silverman, 46, and son Eric, nine (pictured in Los Angeles last year) 

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