Tom Cruise has been living in the UK for several years. No one really knows how long because Cruise moves silently when he wants to, and he almost always wants to. Many of Tom’s recent movies have filmed in the UK, and Tom clearly owns or rents several properties in London and outside of the city. He seems to have friends there and in recent years, he’s been turning up to all of the big British sporting and cultural events. Tom has gone to the Wimbledon ladies’ and gentlemen’s finals for two years in a row. This year, he got Royal Box seats just a few rows back from the Duchess of Cambridge. He also arranged for a private screening of Top Gun: Maverick for the Cambridges, then he did a big, glitzy charity screening for the royals too. He’s clearly ingratiating himself into the highest tiers of British society and it is what it is. The Mail tries to explain his fascination with Britain:

Why, you may ask, is the quintessentially all-American megastar – whose latest blockbuster, Top Gun: Maverick, has taken more than $1billion at the global box office – suddenly over here so much? The answer, according to one of his long-term associates, is that Cruise now considers himself ‘an honorary Brit’.

‘He’s fallen in love with everything about the UK,’ the source who worked with Cruise told the MoS. ‘His daughter lives here, he enjoys a good cuppa and he loves the fact he can be himself. The biggest thing is he’s developed a proper circle of friends. He’s the happiest I’ve ever seen him.’

Last weekend, Cruise celebrated his 60th birthday at Soho Farmhouse in the Cotswolds with some of those within his inner sanctum, including David Beckham, Gordon Ramsay and James Corden. Actor Simon Pegg, his Mission: Impossible co-star, was also there.

Perhaps the most extraordinary new friendship is with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Much was made of the fact that Cruise gallantly took Kate’s hand to guide her up stairs on the red carpet at the premiere of Top Gun: Maverick in Leicester Square in May, with some critics saying his gesture was ‘overly-familiar’. But sources tell the MoS the actor is a ‘huge fan’ of the Cambridges, adding that their friendship ‘is warm and professional’ and it was William and Kate who encouraged Cruise to be included in the opening night of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June.

The source added: ‘It has turned into quite a special friendship. He was so happy to be involved in the Jubilee proceedings. There was chatter that Kate and William asked him to do it. It wouldn’t be surprising because he adores the Royal Family.’

He plans to be in the UK until the beginning of next year. The 5ft 7in star had sold his $39million Beverly Hills mansion and moved into a penthouse in Clearwater, Florida, in a building owned by the Church of Scientology, the controversial religion Cruise has followed since his 20s. But by the time he arrived in the UK, he appeared ‘rudderless’, according to one person in his professional circle.

The LA source said: ‘The thing about Tom in Hollywood is that you never saw him out and about. He was almost a recluse. He’d do the red carpet to promote his movies but I only ever saw him with family members or staff. It always struck me he didn’t appear to have any friends outside his family and church. At events, he was this little figure inside a circle of bodyguards. He was extremely professional but withdrawn. Seeing him now is a total transformation. He’s genuinely happy, he is out all the time and he doesn’t have an entourage of security around him like he did in the States. He’s posing for selfies and he has a freedom in the UK I don’t think he ever had here.’

[From The Mail]

Yeah, he probably does have more freedom over there and he can socialize with non-Scientologists freely, without CoS breathing down his neck. While I know this is wishful thinking, it does feel like maybe Tom has gotten some space from CoS? I’m sure he’s still massively involved, but Tom has already gone through phases of his life where he wasn’t all about CoS, like when he was married to Nicole Kidman. Anyway, I’ve gotten really used to seeing Cruise turn up at British events, I would be fine he stayed there. He seems very happy there. And his friendship with the Cambridges… well, it suits his purposes and an association with a famous American actor suits their purposes.

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