DEPENDING which side you’re on, this is either checkmate or the lowest blow imaginable.
The rift between and the Sussexes – showbiz royalty and actual royalty – has just been blown wide open, with and really hitting and where it hurts. Right in the family.
is a huge stunt – a bold, defiant declaration of intent, and has turned the tense situation into an explosive one.
This now looks set to become a nuclear Hollywood-style feud that will run and run, and no one is going to emerge unscathed.
Famous friends will be forced to take sides. Beckham pals and – who this week – seem unlikely to be able to avoid being dragged into it.
Meghan and Harry must have known what they were doing when they invited Brooklyn and Nicola for dinner at their Montecito mansion last week, and that news of the meeting would get back to David and Victoria.
Never backwards at coming forwards when advice and lectures are concerned, even Harry must draw the line at offering tips on how to navigate disagreements with your nearest and dearest.
Earlier this month he admitted: “I would love reconciliation with my family. There’s no point continuing to fight any more, life is precious.”;;
So the only help Harry can be to Brooklyn would be to suggest he does the opposite to everything he has done.
Therefore, it’s difficult to believe mediation to get relations with Brooklyn and Nicola’s relations back on track was the agenda here, and much more plausible that the double date was a power ploy.
The Peltz-Beckhams appear to be merely unwitting pawns in this game.
At the moment, the only thing heartbroken David and Victoria are said to want is to spend time with their beloved eldest son.
Can it really be a coincidence that this is exactly what Harry and Meghan have just done?
Breaking the bond
It all could have been so different. When Team Becks and Team Sussex first met, they seemed like a match made in celebrity BFF heaven.
Victoria reportedly made a real effort to bond with Meghan, due to the Beckhams’ longstanding relationship with Prince William and Harry, sharing privileged information about the best facials and hairdressing services in London.
The two couples became close, with Harry and Meghan even borrowing David and Victoria’s LA mansion to hide out in three years before fleeing the UK for good.
But as author Tom Bower claimed in his book, The House of Beckham, the friendship soon soured.
“As a seasoned operator, Meghan deluded herself that her status in the placed her above Victoria in the social pecking order,”;; he writes.
“She was irritated to discover that the Beckhams had considerably more wealth than herself.
“They owned five homes, had constant access to private jets, invitations to sail on yachts and much more money.”;;
Bower also revealed that Meghan was so paranoid that she began to distrust Victoria, even suspecting her of leaking stories to the press.
Petty punishments
Cue a string of petty, playground-level ‘punishments’, according to Bower, that tore the famous families’ once-close bond apart.
Although the Beckhams were invited to the Sussexes’ 2018 wedding, there was a sting in the tail when they weren’t invited to the evening reception.
And after suggesting the whole Beckham family came out to Sydney for the later that year, Harry then reportedly avoided David on the day they were scheduled to meet, sending staff to keep the confused star away from him.
“The exclusion order, it later transpired, was issued by Meghan. She did not want any competition in the media from Beckham, and especially not from his wife Victoria,”;; Bower claimed.
It is said that they have not spoken since.
Meanwhile, David and Prince William have remained on good terms throughout, no doubt a betrayal in Harry and Meghan’s eyes that could fuel their resentment towards the Beckhams further still.
And it’s hard not to wonder if Kate sporting a outfit this week, while presenting The Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design, was an indication of where her allegiance lies.
Victoria and David – keen to build bridges with Brooklyn – will presumably be mortified that he’s taking advice from people who are on such bad terms with their own family.
It hardly seems likely to improve the situation and lead to the conclusion they are desperately hoping for.
So how will they retaliate in this petulant game of showbiz thrones? Your move, Beckhams...
