Royal biographer Tom Bower claims duchess 'feared she would be upstaged by the Beckhams', leading to celebrity spat

Royal biographer Tom Bower has claimed Meghan Markle feared she would be upstaged by the Beckhams during her first tour to Australia and was "irritated" by David's friendship with Prince William.

David and Victoria Beckham take their seats in St George's Chapel before the wedding ceremony of Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and US actress Meghan Markle. Picture: AFP Photo

More information has come to light about the bitter rift between Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and David and Victoria Beckham. 

According to The Sun, the rumoured feud started in October 2018, when Harry was hosting the Invictus Games which were being held in Sydney.

After flying for 22 hours from London to Sydney at Prince Harry’s request, David Beckham was dismayed that the prince would not meet him.

“Where is he?” Beckham reportedly asked officials as he waited for Prince Harry. “When will I meet him?” he asked.

Closing Ceremony of the 2018 Invictus Games in Homebush, Sydney with an invited David Beckham. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

But the Duke of Sussex had had no plans to see the former England football captain, nor even of being photographed with him.

Over previous years, Prince Harry had met David Beckham at celebrity functions and socially.

Beckham had also played a prominent role bringing the 2012 Olympics to Britain and so it seemed natural for the prince to ask him to attend the competition for injured servicemen.

Prince Harry’s invitation had originally been offered during his wedding in Windsor five months earlier, which David and Victoria Beckham both attended.

Beckham is known to be a supporter of the royal family and so took the invitation to heart, according to The Sun. But having flown half-way around the world, he was dismayed that he was being kept at arm's length from the Duke. The reason was apparently Meghan, the new Duchess of Sussex.

According to royal author Tom Bower, she wanted no competition in the media from David, and his wife, Victoria.

Prince Harry (R) gestures to his fiancee US actress Meghan Markle (L) during the Invictus Games Sydney 2018. Picture: AFP

It was in Sydney that Meghan Markle allegedly shouted at her staff and threw a cup of tea into the air. Accused in London of bullying her staff — an accusation she has denied — both she and Prince Harry were searching the internet for hateful comments about themselves.

The Duchess of Sussex perplexed the Beckhams, since after she had first moved into Prince Harry’s cottage in Kensington Palace in 2017, they had been friendly and generous towards her.

She also had stayed in the Beckhams’ six-bedroom luxurious house in Beverly Hills prior to her marriage to Prince Harry so as to avoid the paparazzi. 

Victoria Beckham had also given Meghan makeup, skincare and hairdressing advice soon after she moved into Kensington Palace.

The Sun reported on Victoria Beckham’s help and it reports that the Duchess was outraged, and assumed the Beckhams had leaked the information. They denied doing so but Meghan was hurt. 

Former England footballer David Beckham (L) and fashion designer Victoria Beckham (R) arrive for the wedding ceremony of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Picture: AFP Photo

While they attended St George’s Chapel for the Sussexes’ wedding, they were not invited to the wedding dinner.

A near-unforgivable insult considering all the Hollywood stars invited — and many were not friends.

But regardless, David Beckham accepted Prince Harry's invitation to attend Invictus. 

By then, a new complaint had arisen: Apparently, Meghan wanted Victoria to supply free clothes and accessories from her expensive range but such requests were against the Palace’s rules. Also, Victoria Beckham's business at that time, 2017, was not doing well and reportedly losing millions of pounds in revenue.

Prince Harry and David Beckham occasionally met on weekends, but Meghan and Victoria drifted further apart. As a lifelong Californian, she felt little in common with a girl from Essex.

Another irritation was David’s friendship with Prince William. Ever since the World Cup bid in 2010, the two had formed a good relationship, which annoyed the Sussexes, already complaining about their unequal status and wealth with the Cambridges.

In the wake of the snubs in Sydney when relations between the Sussexes and Beckhams dramatically cooled, and Christmas 2018 was approaching, Victoria Beckham agreed to lend Meghan a navy blue coat in the hopes that she would promote the line.

The Duchess of Sussex wore it on Christmas Day on the walk with the Royal Family to church at Sandringham in Norfolk.

But it didn't help sales. Nevertheless, Victoria produced a custom-made white coat and dress for Meghan in 2019, when she was pregnant, to wear in her last appearance in Westminster Abbey in March 2020.

But by then, Meghan’s popularity was falling and so her endorsement of Victoria’s label failed to improve sales.

During 'Megxit' and the royal couple's media attacks on the Royal Family, the royalist Beckhams decided to distance themselves from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

Prince William, Prince of Wales, Catherine, Princess of Wales and David Beckham speak backstage after The Earthshot Prize 2022. Picture: WireImage

Then, in December 2022 David Beckham flew 6,600 miles from the World Cup in Qatar to Boston to help the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge celebrate their philanthropic Earthshot Prize.

To the Cambridges’ delight, US President Biden was also there. To the disappointment of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, David Beckham's kiss of Princess Catherine eclipsed their own media moment in New York, and they have been struggling to strike the right note with their brand ever since.

Originally published as Royal biographer Tom Bower claims duchess 'feared she would be upstaged by the Beckhams', leading to celebrity spat