After she’s accused of leaking stories about Meghan Markle, Victoria Beckham is royally concerned about her rep
Victoria is not happy at leak accusations by Meghan
After being in the public eye for nearly 25 years, Victoria Beckham has grown a pretty thick skin and tries to ignore critical stories about her.
But she’s only human and, it turns out, if you accuse her of leaking stories, she doesn’t take kindly to it. Last week, it was claimed Prince Harry had phoned her husband David when he thought Victoria had been leaking stories about his thenfiancée Meghan Markle. David assured Harry it wasn’t true, and the couple were invited to Meghan and Harry’s wedding in May 2018, but not to the evening reception. Now, we’re told Victoria – who was pictured looking downcast the day after the revelations – is mortified that the story has come out. She feels especially hurt as she welcomed Meghan with open arms when she first started dating Harry. She now wants to distance herself from the couple, following their shock exit from the royal family.
“Vic has had more than enough involvement with Meghan – at first she was love-bombed by her via Harry, wanting to visit the store, looking for tips about London, and hanging out in the
Cotswolds as they are neighbours,” an insider tells heat. “But then things took a funny turn. Meghan made overtures about wearing Vic’s clothes, but she doesn’t give them out for free. She’s happy to give a discreet discount to people she knows personally, but she doesn’t give them out – that’s her policy. Then, suddenly, Meghan turns on her and accuses her of selling stories, leading to that really awkward call between Harry and David.”
The conversation reportedly happened in December 2017, after a newspaper published claims that Posh had given Meghan fashion and beauty advice. It has been claimed Meghan suspected Posh of being the source of the stories, so Harry called David – who’s been friends with both him and Prince William for over a decade. Although Victoria strenuously denied the claims, our insider says it did cause tension between her and David. “David was quite flustered when he got off the phone. He’d set Harry straight but, of course, it caused a bit of an issue between them,” we’re told. “But it caused a bigger issue between David and
Victoria, as David wasn’t very supportive. He kept on saying, ‘Well, you must have been gossiping to someone about it, Harry says she heard it was you.’ It led to huge rows between them, especially when they then weren’t invited to the evening reception as so many other celebs were. David was embarrassed. It came at the same time as a tough period for their marriage, too – it wasn’t the main reason for it, but it was certainly another row that contributed to things. Victoria was devastated and furious that David didn’t take her side more.”
When David and Victoria – who have been married for 20 years, and have four children together – attended the wedding in Windsor, it was obvious there was tension between them. As they walked into the church, Victoria went to reach for David’s hand and he visibly snubbed her. Things have since improved between them, but our source adds that Victoria is worried this story could damage her reputation and she could become a social outcast, as people won’t trust her.
“While David and Harry tried to put the whole thing behind them, Vic was really upset about it. She was concerned that
Meghan would be talking about her in certain circles, and that she would get a reputation as a gossip, so she was really paranoid,” we’re told. “And now it’s come out so publicly, it’s causing a bit of drama in the fashion community. Edward Enninful [the UK Vogue editor] is firmly in Meghan’s camp, putting him at odds with a lot of people who aren’t fans of hers, and there’s a bit of catfighting. Vic doesn’t really want to get involved, because she thinks it will just end badly. She’s worked so hard to cement her reputation as a serious fashion designer and to distance herself from the tabloids. It’s so embarrassing for her. She’s seething, but she’s also really worried she is a laughing stock.”
Victoria – who was awarded an OBE three years ago for services to the fashion industry – also feels that Meghan tried to get back in with her last year, when she and Harry were getting a lot of criticism, but we’re told she didn’t want to let her get close again.
“Their mutual friend Elton John was on Victoria’s case to clear the air with Meghan, saying they should hang out more, and Vic was confused,” our source says. “Then Meghan talked about her dresses in interviews and was clearly trying to make nice again. Victoria was making excuses – she just didn’t feel comfortable getting close to her again, as she felt that maybe there was an ulterior motive. She’s not one to trust people easy, and there was no way she was going to let that happen to her a second time.
“Now they’ve seen the full picture, they’re running away from any negative association. David has apologised, saying he should never have doubted her, but it’s not done much to make Victoria feel better.” n
‘It’s causing a drama… it’s so embarrassing for her’