Thinking about a knighthood, David? Beckham and Prince Harry are ‘growing distant’ amid charity ambassador discussions with King Charles, our PALACE CONFIDENTIAL experts claim

• King may be friendly with Beckhams – following reports of their Sussex feud
• READ MORE: King Charles has gone from ‘confused’ young man to a monarch ‘comfortable’ in his own skin who is like ‘the nation’s grandfather’ thanks to Queen Camilla, experts tell PALACE CONFIDENTIAL ahead of his 75th birthday

There ‘seems to be a distance’ growing between David Beckham and Prince Harry, according to a royal expert.

Speaking in the latest episode of Palace Confidential, the Daily Mail Diary Editor Richard Eden discussed the idea that the closeness Prince Harry, 39, and Meghan Markle, 42, are believed to have once shared with the Beckhams is over.

According to Richard: ‘David Beckham is an old friend of Prince Harry but there does seem to be a sort of distance coming between them.’

This, he noted, is in spite of the two men being in America, with Harry living in California, and David spending much time in the States where he has set up a football team.

Richard continued: ‘[Despite this] they don’t seem to see each other much these days.’

With suggestions abounding that David Beckham (pictured, right, in May this year) may want a knighthood, it may make sense, some have suggested, to ally himself with King Charles (pictured, left), rather than with Prince Harry  

And further to this, royal expert Richard noted that there are suggestions that King Charles is keen for David Beckham to get involved in his old charity the Prince’s Foundation.   

‘What’s happened there, was it was a huge, sprawling empire [that] used to be run by King Charles’ right hand man Michael Fawcett who resigned over a scandal regarding cash for honours,’ he told the programme.

As a result, there are now questions swirling around what will happen with the charity empire.

Among the questions, are suggestions that King Charles wants to rejuvenate the Foundation by getting high profile figures such as David Beckham involved, so they can give it a new lease of life.

This prompted host Jo Elvin to question whether King Charles’ royalty holds a bigger draw for the Beckhams than Prince Harry, who is no longer a working, senior royal, and therefore seen more as a celebrity.

Offering her opinion, Daily Mail columnist Sarah Vine mused over whether the Beckhams had ever shared a true relationship with the Sussexes.

She said: ‘Were the Beckhams ever really friends with Harry and Megan? Or was it just one of those things where they got together because they were two famous couples in a famous place?’ 

Host Jo Elvin agreed that this could be the case, adding that she had been ‘shocked’ to learn that after the royal wedding that ‘actually they didn’t really know Oprah Winfrey’.

According to the Daily Mail Diary Editor Richard Eden (pictured) ‘there does seem to be a sort of distance coming between’ Prince Harry and David Beckham

Sarah Vine added: ‘Exactly […] you know, famous people tend to stick with famous people[…]but I also think, isn’t there a question here about David Beckham not having a knighthood, [and] wanting a knighthood?

‘So therefore, maybe that’s very simple isn’t it? You know, wouldn’t it be fantastic if he had a leading role in that charity? Then [you can] give him a knighthood.’

She concluded: ‘If you’re choosing between the person who can give you a knighthood, and the person who can’t give you a knighthood, you might choose the person who can give you a knighthood.’

The conversation followed news reports earlier this year that the Beckhams and the Sussexes had indeed had a falling out after once sharing a friendship.

According to reports, the spat between the celebrity couples seemingly dates back to 2018 – the year Meghan and Harry got married.

Among the factors rumoured to have affected the relationship, the Sussexes allegedly accused the Beckhams of leaking stories about them to the press. 

In addition, royal biographer Tom Bower has claimed Meghan did not want competition in the media from the couple – and he alleges that she did not like the footballer’s friendship with Prince William. 

LA-based Brit Lizzie Cundy, former wife of footballer Jason Cundy and a TV personality and socialite, is believed to have met Meghan Markle at a dinner party in 2013, with the two going on to become friends, before, according to Lizzie, she was ghosted by Meghan. 

Harry and Meghan decided not to invite the Beckhams to their wedding dinner , despite the fact that they were asked to attend the marriage ceremony at St George’s Chapel. Mr Bower claims the move was a ‘near-unforgivable insult’, citing that many Hollywood stars who attended the dinner ‘were not friends’

She has since shed some light on the friendship between the Beckhams and Sussexes, revealing that Meghan met Victoria Beckham in 2013 – a meeting which prompted the now-Duchess to ‘squeal’ in excitement she has said. 

Lizzie told the New York Post: ‘Meghan was so thrilled with excitement to see Victoria Beckham. She went “Oh my God, that’s Victoria Beckham!”.’

She claimed the Duchess was a ‘proper big fan’ of Posh Spice, and recalled thinking Meghan needed to ‘calm down and be cool’ after first spotting her.

According to biographer Tom Bower, after Meghan moved into Kensington Palace with Harry in 2017, David and Victoria were supportive of her. 

According to the Mail on Sunday, the couples bonded because Izzy May, David Beckham’s communications director, was friends with Markus Anderson, chief membership officer for private social club Soho House, who helped arrange Meghan’s secret dates with Harry.

Among the kindnesses reportedly shown to Meghan by the Beckhams, they hosted Meghan in their six-bedroom house in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles before her marriage to Harry.

The couple’s staff tended to Meghan’s needs at no cost during her private visit to California, Mr Bower claimed. 

In addition, fashion designer Victoria offered Meghan make-up advice, and a member of her staff is also understood to have helped Meghan with facials and hairdressing.    

The Beckhams offered many kindnesses to the Sussexes, it is claimed, with designer Victoria sharing fashion and make-up advice with Meghan. Here, Meghan wears one of Victoria’s deigns

But the royal couple allegedly had a suspicion that the Beckhams leaked stories about Meghan’s help from Victoria to the press – a claim the former Spice Girl denied and left David reportedly feeling ‘absolutely bloody furious’.

Harry and Meghan then decided not to invite the Beckhams to their wedding dinner, despite the fact that they were asked to attend the marriage ceremony at St George’s Chapel. Mr Bower claims the move was a ‘near-unforgivable insult’, citing that many Hollywood stars who attended the dinner ‘were not friends’.    

But regardless of the alleged slight, David still accepted Harry’s invitation to attend the Invictus Games. He travelled to Sydney in October 2018 but then never even had face time with the Duke.

David found the apparent move to keep him separated from Harry as ‘a bit strange’ but decided not to call the Prince about it, the biographer wrote, adding that he and Victoria ‘barely mentioned’ the slight during their stay at a rented house in North Shore, Sydney. 

Victoria Beckham also produced a custom-made white coat and dress for Meghan in 2020 which she wore during her last appearance in Westminster Abbey in March that year (pictured)

Victoria is said to have leant Meghan clothing from her fashion line on a number of occasions, praising the star who she said looked good in the designs.   

But Mr Bower alleges that during this time Harry and Meghan had been regularly searching themselves on the internet to look for hateful comments about themselves. 

He claims at that point Meghan was ‘not prepared to tolerate anything flattering regarding the Beckhams and the Games to appear in the media’.

Regardless, the Beckhams seemingly tried to maintain a relationship with Harry and Meghan.

And Victoria also lent Meghan a coat during the Christmas holidays, which the Duchess wore on Christmas day 2018 during a walk with the Royal Family to the church at Sandringham. Meghan is pictured in the coat as she walks with Harry

The couples were neighbours in Oxfordshire after the Beckhams built a home and Harry was renting a converted barn. 

The biographer claims that while the men ‘occasionally meet at weekends’, Meghan had already ‘put on airs’.

Meanwhile, as Harry and Meghan prepared to make their move to California and step away from royal life, the Beckhams refused to take sides in the alleged row between the Sussexes and Prince William and his wife Kate.

David and William are understood to have had a good relationships since England’s World Cup bid in 2010, which Mr Bower claims ‘annoyed the Sussexes’.

Meanwhile  Meghan even continued to wear the British designer following her move to the US, opting for a £570 pointed collar silk shirt as she made a surprise appearance on the season finale of America’s Got Talent.

However Meghan and Harry were not guests at the wedding of the Beckhams’ son Brooklyn to US heiress Nicola Peltz in April last year.

Their alleged distaste towards the Beckhams friendship with the then-Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, was furthered last year when David flew from Qatar to Boston during the World Cup to help William and Kate with their philanthropic efforts. 

American media highlighted the moment David kissed Kate on the cheek as she hosted the Earthshot prize ceremony alongside her husband.

The now Prince and Princess of Wales’ ceremony, which was attended by President Joe Biden, seemingly upstaged an event hosted by the Sussexes in New York that same weekend.

In July, it emerged there was a suspicion the Beckhams may have leaked stories about the Sussexes, an accusation The Mail on Sunday was told left David ‘absolutely bloody furious’. 

Their alleged distaste towards the Beckhams friendship with the then-Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, was furthered last year when David flew from Qatar to Boston during the World Cup to help William and Kate with their philanthropic efforts. American media highlighted the moment David kissed Kate on the cheek (pictured) as she hosted the Earthshot prize ceremony alongside her husband

A source close to the Beckhams said: ‘David and Victoria went to Meghan and Harry’s wedding and were very supportive when Meghan arrived in the UK.’ 

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.’ 

Mr Bower says the spat was again furthered just weeks ago when the Beckhams hosted a star-studded celebration after Lionel Messi scored a last-minute for David’s football team in Miami, Florida.

Meghan and Harry were reportedly not invited to the party, which is understood to have carried on for hours.     

The biographer alleged that Meghan ‘pushed’ Victoria away over the last few years, adding that she may have done ‘much better’ with the British public if ‘she copied Victoria’ instead.

 

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