When Meghan Markle first moved to London to live with Prince Harry, she barely knew a soul. Ensconced in Nottingham
Cottage in the grounds of Kensington Palace, the duchess-to-be had left
Toronto where she had a busy social life and lots of friends and,
understandably, felt lonely.

But
there was one person who extended a welcome hand of friendship and
invited her for tea at her £25 million mansion, just a little over a
mile from the royal residence. And that was Victoria Beckham.

They
had several mutual acquaintances: Meghan’s close friend, British PR
guru Izzy May, worked for Victoria’s husband David, and of course David
and Harry had been close for years. So close, in fact, that David and
Victoria were on the guest list for Harry and Meghan’s wedding in 2018,
and Harry had invited David to be an ambassador for his beloved Invictus
Games charity.

The
friendship came to a dramatic end, however, after Harry suspected that
Victoria was leaking stories about his wife to the tabloid press – an
accusation the couple vehemently denied, and one David is still fuming
about.

One
can imagine the scenes, therefore, Chez Beckham, on Wednesday evening
when it emerged that David and Victoria’s estranged son Brooklyn and his
wife Nicola Peltz had rubbed shoulders with Meghan and Harry at a dinner in Montecito, California
where, it was reported, the two women found ‘common ground’ over their
new-found infamy as American wives who’ve allegedly driven a wedge
through well-known, and much-loved, British families.

Harry,
too, had apparently offered Brooklyn his ‘unwavering support’ amid the
fall-out with his parents and siblings – a subject on which he’s
becoming something of an expert.

I’m
told that David and Victoria had no idea about the meeting, leaving
them blindsided that their errant offspring had joined the ‘other side’
in what appears to be just the latest jibe at his parents.

In
fact, not only did the Beckhams not know of the event, those in their
circles struggled to believe that Brooklyn and Nicola would agree to
meet up with Harry and Meghan having snubbed five of David’s 50th
birthday celebrations. It was, they say, a particularly cruel blow.

‘Brooklyn
knows how hurt David and Victoria were when Harry and Meghan accused
them of briefing stories about them,’ said a source. ‘David, who is very
mild mannered, was absolutely furious.

‘Brooklyn
was very much around and spending a lot of time with his parents when
this all happened. It was over five years ago but the upset and dislike
is still very much there.

‘Victoria was especially good to Meghan in the beginning and it all got thrown back in her face.’

However,
Victoria and David can breathe a small sigh of relief because the
soiree was not the cosy foursome implied by The Sun newspaper yesterday
but instead, I am reliably informed, a much larger gathering hosted by
Brian Robbins, 61, the CEO of television giant Paramount and
Nickelodeon, and his wife Tracy, 49, who are neighbours of Harry and
Meghan in Montecito.

Far
from an intimate occasion, there were more than 20 people at the party,
held at the Robbins’ vast, $17 million, six-bedroom villa, with its
4,500 bottle wine cellar and 88ft swimming pool.

The
Robbinses and the Sussexes have become close friends, after attending
the January 2024 premiere of Paramount’s reggae biopic, Bob Marley: One
Love, in Jamaica.

Harry
and Meghan were flown to the event in a Bombardier private jet,
courtesy of Paramount Pictures. They must have been delighted, not just
with the generous freebie but by the welcome hand of friendship,
proferred by this very well-connected, power couple.

After
all, the Sussexes were in dire need of good contacts: they’d just been
dropped by Spotify from their £15 million deal after Meghan’s podcast
flopped, and a senior executive branded them ‘f***ing grifters’.

Then their £80 million deal with Netflix was reduced to a polo documentary and a lifestyle show.

The
foursome are now so close that Tracy was one of just 50 people to get a
jar of Meghan’s strawberry jam, from her American Riviera Orchard brand
(now renamed As Ever). Her jar was number 17, and she gushed on social
media about how she would not be sharing it with anybody.

Then,
in May, the Sussexes celebrated their sixth anniversary with a double
date accompanied by the Robbinses at Lucky’s Steakhouse in Montecito.
However, you do have to wonder just what the Sussexes make of the not
insignificant matter of one particular TV show produced by Paramount,
satirical cartoon South Park.

Meghan
and Harry were eviscerated in an episode in 2022, called The Worldwide
Privacy Tour, which savagely mocked their decision to step back as
senior members of the Royal Family saying they wanted privacy while
courting publicity with constant attempts at rebranding.

Some things, it would seem, are worth forgiving.

So how did Brooklyn and Nicola find themselves on the guest list for the dinner?

Not
only are they significantly younger than their hosts – Brooklyn and
Nicola are just 26 and 30 – they’re hardly movers and shakers in the
world of television.

The
common denominator is Brooklyn’s father David, who is currently
starring in football chat show Beckham & Friends Live on Paramount+.
One source suggested to me that Brooklyn was invited by the TV mogul
because he is David’s son and Robbins had no idea that there was a
serious rift between them.

‘David’s
production company sold the show to Paramount and it is something that
Brian would have been very hands-on with,’ said an insider. ‘Brooklyn
lives in Los Angeles, just down the highway, so perhaps Brian thought it
would be a nice thing to invite him and Nicola.’

A
nice thing indeed: it was an invitation they would have instantly
accepted, especially since the couple are desperately trying to carve
out a lucrative brand for themselves and a TV show is exactly what they
would want to make that happen.

‘Nicola is also an actress so

mixing in such circles will not do

her career any harm. In fact getting in front of people like Brian is extremely advantageous.’

Another
insider suggests that while the invitation was sent out way before the
feud became public knowledge, Nicola would have noted the optics of what
it would look like to hang out at the same party as Meghan and Harry.

‘It’s a kick in the teeth or a total screw you,’ they said. ‘Depending on what side you are on.’

Regardless, the coming together of the two couples is fascinating.

Politics
is probably a subject best avoided: Nicola’s Republican credentials,
thanks to her father billionaire businessman Nelson Peltz’s close
friendship with Donald Trump, is not going to sit well with Meghan’s
staunch Democratic leanings.

That
might go some way to explaining why Harry and Meghan appeared to be
trying to distance themselves from Brooklyn and Nicola on Wednesday
night, shortly after news of the meet-up was revealed.

In
a report in US magazine People, viewed universally as something of
mouthpiece for Harry and Meghan, those close to the Sussexes insisted
that Brooklyn and Nicola were not directly invited by the couple.

Sources
stressed that the meal was for a large group of VIPs, including TV and
media executives, with one telling the publication: ‘Brooklyn and Nicola
were invited prior to David’s numerous global birthday galas, so the
timing is pure coincidence. While it was an intimate gathering, there
were several additional guests, including VIPs and film executives.
Brooklyn and Nicola had a wonderful time and found Harry and Meghan to
be particularly kind, caring and generous.’

It
has been suggested to me that the conversation between the two couples
was limited but sources acknowledge that they would have had ‘plenty to
talk about’ – with similarities between the two family rifts undeniable.

Indeed,
Brooklyn’s fall-out with his parents and siblings almost mirrors Prince
Harry’s: Nicola has been blamed for taking Brooklyn away from his
beloved parents, in the same way Meghan has for removing Harry from the
Royal Family. Those who know the Beckhams have accused Nicola of
controlling her husband of three years. There are also claims that she
purposely starts an argument before a Beckham family event which then
‘kicks off’ to the point that she and Brooklyn can no longer attend.

This
is what the Beckhams believe was behind their no-shows for David’s
birthday earlier this month. Brooklyn and Nicola did not attend any of
the celebrations that David had organised for his family.

First
it was the A-list bash at Cipriani restaurant in Miami on March 30.
Then, despite being invited six months ago, Brooklyn failed to make a
Scottish fishing trip, despite being in London in time to join his
father and two brothers. The couple were also absent from a big family
party at the Beckhams’ £10 million Cotswolds home on April 30.

They
also shunned the luxurious jaunt to Bordeaux in France on Friday May 2
where the family gathered for lunch at David’s favourite vineyard,
Petrus –

which produces his preferred red wine from Merlot grapes – in Pomerol close to the border of Saint-Émilion.

Finally,
Brooklyn and Nicola failed to turn up to the former footballer’s
star-studded meal at Notting Hill restaurant Core on Saturday May 3.

Instead
they flew back to the US where they had planned to attend the exclusive
Met Gala in New York as guests of Amazon, who Brooklyn works with for
his Cloud 23 hot sauce brand.

However,
following the backlash for shunning David’s birthday, they pulled out –
with a ‘Nicola hissy fit’ suspected as the reason.

Amid
this painful split with their eldest son, however, there was one
unlikely ally to be found in the Royal Family, namely Prince Harry’s
sister-in-law, the Princess of Wales.

On
Tuesday she opted to wear one of Victoria Beckham’s creations, a £1,340
olive-green trouser suit, to present the Queen Elizabeth II Award for
British Design at an event hosted by the British Fashion Council –
something the designer would have been thrilled about.

‘David and [Prince] William are really close, still,’ said a source close to the Beckhams.

‘And
while it would be ridiculous to suggest that Kate chose to wear VB
because of the headlines over the fall out with Brooklyn, it would have
brought a smile to Victoria’s face.’ A rare event in itself, but
something the heart-broken Mrs Beckham could really do with right now.

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