"Where is he? When will I meet him?”
A snub and some free clothes. Revenge author Tom Bower gives us new details on the Beckham v Sussexes rift
This is the story that just won’t go away.
Tom Bower, a prolific British investigative journalist wrote an exclusive for The Sun yesterday detailing with great alacrity, the breakdown of the relationship between David and Victoria Beckham and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Before we get into the juicy read, let’s travel back in time to late July last year when Bower released his book Revenge: Meghan, Harry, and the War Between the Windsors.
In July 2022, an exclusive excerpt from Revenge was shared with Us Weekly, and in it, an explosive claim was made: Tensions between Meghan Markle and Victoria Beckham began with in terse phone call between their husbands in early 2018. The gist of the conflict was simple: Meghan suspected Victoria aka Posh, was providing the press with stories about her in the lead up to her wedding. Why? It was an attempt to heighten her “VB” profile. Prince Harry gave David Beckham a ring to repeat these accusations and Becks angrily pushed back, denying that he or his wife would ever do such a thing. The nature of their relationship was, for the worst, forever changed.
Fast Forward to one week ago
The Daily Mail, a perennial thorn in the Sussexes side, recently had an exclusive story about this exact conflict, reiterating it for the masses: The Sussexes and the Beckhams’s relationship had considerably cooled due to tensions and concerns about the leaking of stories.
“There was a suspicion the couple may have leaked stories about the Sussexes, an accusation The Mail on Sunday has been told left David 'absolutely bloody furious'.”
The objective of the article was to point out how, five years removed from their wedding, the Beckhams are thriving in America while the Sussexes seem to be struggling to find their way. And to indicate that reconciliation was not in the works.
But the accusations, which The Mail on Sunday has been told came in a tense phone call, fractured the Beckham friendship. The source added: 'Any making up now is so unlikely.'
Meghan has simply moved on.
At the time in July 2022, Bower’s original disclosure of the tension between the Sussexes and Beckhams barely made a ripple in press or Royal watching circles. In all probability, this was likely due to the other big revelations in the book taking all the oxygen from the room.
Fast Forward to yesterday
Okay, lets get into the Royal Tea.
Bower writes when Harry and Meghan began dating, the Beckhams went out of their way to be supportive and welcoming of the couple.
Meghan asked to use their six-bedroom mansion in Beverly Hills: “Her excuse was to avoid the paparazzi” and the Beckhams agreed, at zero cost to Meghan: “All her needs were provided by the Beckhams’ staff.”
To build ties, Victoria provided Meghan with make-up guidance soon after she moved to England in late 2017.
To aid in her wedding planning activities, Victoria’s staff gave Meghan “help on facials and hairdressing” contacts in London.
And this is where it started to go south.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to HRH Royal Tea to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.