DM: The Beckhams have been ‘Markled,’ cut out of the Sussexes’ friend circle

While I do not have access to the Sussex Squad’s years of receipts, going off my memory and our Celebitchy archives, it doesn’t seem like David and Victoria Beckham have ever fallen out with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. David has been friendly with Prince William and Harry for years and there was talk about how their friends needed to “pick a side” (that came from William). But from where I sit, the Beckhams have never done anything “against” the Sussexes, publicly at least. Meghan has worn Victoria’s designs and Victoria went out of her way to praise Meghan’s wedding gown. Reportedly, the Beckhams also invited the Sussexes to Brooklyn’s Florida wedding (H&M skipped it). Well, now the Mail on Sunday claims that there’s been high drama behind-the-scenes and the Beckhams have been “Markled.” Meaning, they’ve been cut out of Harry and Meghan’s circle of friends.

Years ago when she was an actress, Meghan Markle often wrote in her blog The Tig about the group she called her ‘closest friends’. Some were soulmates, others were celebrities she met at showbiz events and parties. Gradually, that circle of chums broadened to include clothes designers, socialites and charity campaigners.

Among them were David and Victoria Beckham, who were guests at her wedding to Prince Harry at Windsor in 2018. However, their friendship seems to have died. Reciprocally, Meghan and Harry were not guests at the wedding of the Beckhams’ son Brooklyn to US heiress Nicola Peltz in April last year. Nor were either of the Sussexes at one of the biggest celebrity events of the year, last weekend, when Argentina’s Lionel Messi made his debut for David’s Inter Miami football team as Kim Kardashian, tennis legend Serena Williams and a host of other big names partied in the VIP boxes.

Like many in Meghan’s world, the Beckhams appear to have been ‘Markled’. The word is cruelly used by critics of the one-time soap serial actress to describe how she is seemingly able to swiftly move on from some of those once closest to her. Most notoriously ‘Markled’ has been her father Thomas, 79, after he sold paparazzi pictures of himself preparing for his daughter’s wedding.

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

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. 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.’

Meghan has simply moved on. She is now said to be ‘extremely close’ to cosmetics tycoon Victoria Jackson, a near neighbour at the Sussexes’ £11.5million Montecito, California, mansion, whose husband Bill Guthy spearheaded lucrative make-up brands launched by actress Jennifer Lopez and supermodel Cindy Crawford.

[From The Daily Mail]

So, what’s funny about this is that they think Harry and Meghan should have flown across the country just to watch an Inter Miami soccer game? British people really don’t understand the size of the United States. They don’t realize that the flight from California to Florida is a big, stupid slog. As for the Sussexes accusing the Beckhams of leaking stuff… where? When? How? I kind of think the Beckhams leaked the story about the Sussexes being invited to Brooklyn’s wedding, but that whole wedding drama was chaos from start to finish, so who even knows (Serena Williams was there, randomly, because Florida). That’s a pretty harmless leak, if that was even what happened. Anyway, this just serves as a reminder that the British media is desperate for sources close to the Sussexes and the Beckhams too.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

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71 Responses to “DM: The Beckhams have been ‘Markled,’ cut out of the Sussexes’ friend circle”

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  1. Eurydice says:

    Yeah, the 5 questions of journalism – who, what, where, when, how? So somewhere between 2018 and 2023 and even though they don’t hang together, the Beckhams leaked something unknown about the Sussexes and now they still won’t hang together. I am informed.

    • Pinkosaurus says:

      They just needed some negative Meghan headline for clicks, again. If H&M had gone to the game, they would have called her a desperate clout-chasing attention seeker just like Kim Kardashian, which is the headline they really wanted but are salty they had to settle for this weak tea.

      The Beckhams have always been friendly with the royals and I have no doubt would like a nice title so will not offend anyone.

      • Eurydice says:

        And nowhere in the article does it say that that Meghan and Victoria were friends, just that Meghan mentioned “celebrities” in her blog, who could be anybody. I think both couples are living separate, peaceful lives, going about their business and not thinking about each other.

      • Nx2 says:

        It’s just more making up lies about Meghan to see what sticks. I remember when they all ‘reported’ that she literally didn’t have any friends, that the only person at the wedding in her circle was her own mother and that was it. They claimed that Meghan dropped all her old friends and that she didn’t know anybody and invited people she’d never met to her wedding in an effort to social-climb, blah blah. They knew full well what kind of picture they were painting of her for the public.

    • Athena says:

      I think Meghan was at the Beckham wedding. In one of the pictures there’s a woman who you can see from the back, based on skin tone, the bun in the back of the head, the general height and shape,I’m convince it was Meghan. It looked similar to the pictures from when Meghan met Beyoncé.

      • Jaded says:

        I think you must be referring to the photos of Meghan at Ellen and Portia’s wedding vow renewal party. There are a couple of very blurry pics of Meghan there, but it’s been confirmed they did not attend the Beckham wedding.

    • Agreatreckoning says:

      The BM and affiliates really come out with some whacked out shite. The Mirror’s version of this story (don’t know which publication came out with first), is that shortly after the Sussexes stepped back in 2020, Meghan was upset about stories that concerned her beauty routines and was convinced it was Victoria Beckham leaking said stories. LOFL Then, Harry called David about these leaked beauty routine stories. LOFL. Uhmm, these types of stories wouldn’t be something Meghan would give a second thought to IF she ever exchanged these types of conversation with VB.

      Meghan, herself, has discussed the subject. On The Tig site. Harper’s Bazaar has done stories about Meghan’s skin care/beauty regiment/facialists. Did she “Markled” them? Such a childish term. (are all BM churnalists like 5 years old?)

      Meghan was so mad & hurt at VB shortly after stepping down in Jan. 2020, that she wore a Victoria Beckham dress on March 5, 2020. Ya know, that iconic, amazing umbrella in the rain photo. lol I’m sure Meghan is feeling terrible about selling out one of VB’s dresses. VB is SURELY hating on Meghan for wearing one of her dresses that sold out within 24 hours. /s

      Does the BM consider being “Markled” having your dress sell out? Or, does it just mean you didn’t go to a soccer game thousands of miles away? I might have missed something, did the Wails attend said soccer game?

  2. Chaine says:

    Such a weird story, I tend to think the opposite—David Beckham is focused for years on becoming a Sir and now that Harry and Meghan are on the outs with the royal family he doesn’t want to appear too friendly with them and botch his chances.

    • Greeneyedgirl says:

      Chaine…I agree 100%. At the same time I don’t think Victoria and David were ever close to Meghan and Harry .

      • SueBarbri33 says:

        Exactly. Becks is more William’s friend than Harry’s anyway. Becks was the headliner at EartShot in Boston.

      • Kirsten says:

        Also David and Victoria being invited to a royal wedding isn’t proof of close friendship — A LOT of people get invited to those because they’re basically basically performances.

    • San Diego says:

      Soooo, I’m confused. A couple of months ago, the tabloids were all saying that the Beckhams were closer to W&K and they were just friendly with the Sussexes and now they’re been Markled? Honestly how they keep trying to rewrite history and just blatantly make up stuff just to keep Maghan’s name in the papers for clicks is just sickening. How are they not liable at this point!

    • Ameerah M says:

      That has been my impression for years now. David is a Royalist and he has been wanting to be Knighted for years. I think it’s more the other way around. Not in a deliberate or messy way, but I think the Beckhams have cooled down their association with the Sussexes because David doesn’t want to piss off Wilbore. And I honestly don’t think they were all that close to the H&M to begin with. Being “friendly” with people doesn’t make them friends.

  3. ChattyCath says:

    *sigh* this is front page news instead of the story that Rishi Sunak is cancelling all climate targets and ‘standing up for the car owner’.

    • Glamarazzi says:

      Too many circuses, not enough bread.

    • Danbury says:

      There’s an interesting headline this week in the Economist – How Rishi is the most conservative PM since Thatcher. Of course no one’s talking about that. Bread and circuses indeed

      • Snoodle says:

        I just assumed that was a given. There was no way the Tories were going to put forward a brown guy as PM if he wasn’t effectively the most Tory of Tories AND was willing to be the fall guy for whatever nonsense is coming down the pipeline.

        White women, on the other hand, they will allow as PM so long as they’re merely VERY Tory…and also are willing to take the fall for whatever horrendously unpopular thing the Tories are pushing through.

        I was going to only list May and Truss, but honestly Thatcher is personally blamed for everything the Tory party did while she was PM and it just isn’t physically possible for her to be personally responsible for EVERYTHING. I have no doubt she approved of and signed off on pretty much everything, so she’s still definitely horrible, but not Anti-Christ level evil.

        Ooooor maybe the Tories have just defaulted to ‘make the person whom we all hate the PM as a fall guy’ for the last 40 to 50 years or something instead of actually appointing a proper leader, I don’t know.

    • Jaded says:

      Rishi Sunak and his wife are gazillionaires and ardent Tories. Neither of them care about the welfare of the English people, they’re just pandering to the rich and care only for the welfare of their vast amounts of money.

      • G says:

        Why would his wife care about the British people? She isn’t a Brit herself nor is her money. They’re both rooted in India 🤷🏻‍♀️

  4. Carobell says:

    These people have the kind of wealth that they get seen when they want to be seen. We have no real idea who is hanging out with who.

  5. Miranda says:

    Seems to me that the first person to “Markle” someone, ditching them without a second thought. was probably Toxic Tom himself. Abandoning your daughter on her wedding day and selling her out for a tabloid paycheck is pretty f–king cold.

    But yeah, sure, Meghan is the REAL heartless bitch! /s

    • Brassy Rebel says:

      He also “Markled” her two children and now whines about not seeing his grandchildren so the media can then blame Meghan for that too.

    • Debbie says:

      Also, note how the DM says that all Toxic Tom did was to pose for the pictures before Meghan’s wedding. They don’t mention how Meghan publicly asked her “father” to still come top her wedding after that. The DM never mentions how this guy has spent all the past few years berating his own daughter in the British press. They always minimize things done to Meghan and ignore the trash past history of anyone maligning her.

      Anyway, I quickly scrolled past the DM column but in passing saw something pertaining to 11 million. I thought to myself, this couldn’t possibly be another comment on the purchase price of their home, could it? Wouldn’t you know it.

      • Agreatreckoning says:

        Caroline Graham is the co churnalist of this story. Caroline Graham is the DM churnalist/urinalist that put out the Meghan letter’s to her father story that she won against the DM. Caroline Graham is a DM person willing to have their pic taken with Bad Dad.

        Anything to takeaway from Dan Wootton’s illegal, disgusting behavior.

  6. Jan says:

    The BM have been Markled, and are scrapping the bottom of the barrel for news.
    Friends of the Sussexes are not selling news to the tabloids.
    Who knew a friend of Harry’s threw him a book party, until the ghost writer wrote about it.
    If Ellen didn’t post a picture of her renewal vows party, only the people attending would’ve known, they attended.
    Do really people think Harry and Meghan don’t get out and about.

  7. Snuffles says:

    Translation

    We hoped Harry and Meghan would come to events like the wedding and the big soccer game because we’re desperate for new material. They didn’t, we remain furious and will spin a false tale of a friendship break up because we’ve got nothing else on them to talk about.

    Expect the fact that the Sussexes don’t show up to any number of events to be turned into some made up drama.

  8. Amy Bee says:

    I don’t believe this story and I don’t believe Harry and Meghan are actual friends with the Beckhams. I think the Palace invited the Beckhams to wedding not Harry and Meghan.

    • Christine says:

      Yeah, this. Meanwhile, in the land of Salty Isle, none of your royals are working, they are on vacation, while your taxes fund them, and their rota servants write articles exactly like this one.

  9. Sugarhere says:

    Victoria Beckham doesn’t seem like she is easy to get along with, can entertain witty conversation, or get past her makeup and food obsessions. I wouldn’t be friends with her if the deal came along with a million dollars.

    Meghan’s intellect cannot be content with Victoria Beckham’s dullness. They’re nothing alike, and probably have never had much to tell each other.

    Yet, they might still be on cordial speaking terms.

    • Boxy Lady says:

      V & D did a reality show years ago about living in the US and she was very funny. When I saw the Spice Girls movie years ago, I was pleasantly surprised by her comic timing. Her food choices may be dull but she doesn’t seem to be dull herself.

    • Kirsten says:

      VB is also super funny on her social — her videos of David building Lego are totally charming. Idk why we have to insult Victoria here; people can simply not be friends and that’s fine.

    • Karen says:

      She acknowledged once that she often portrays the “character of Victoria Beckham” at events …the glamourous ice queen, largely because it’s expected and also anxiety-reducing, but by many accounts, she IS witty, hilarious, and very down to earth, especially in informal, smaller groups. I’d cut her a little slack on anything related to her kids’ weddings…even the nicest people can become Momzillas…I don’t mean it’s an excuse, just that it’s often not indicative of a person’s normal demeanor.

      • Becks1 says:

        There’s a story of VB from a few years ago (maybe 5, maybe 10, cant remember lol) where a singer was performing in the street with a bowl/container out for donations and VB gave her a hundred dollar bill and said to her something like “you’re better than I ever was.” That always stayed with me not just because of the money (100 dollars isn’t anything to VB, although I’m sure the singer appreciated it) but the self deprecation in her comment.

    • Cosmic Cow says:

      VB has resting b it ch face an affliction that I share. She’s done really well with her post- Spice career and by all accounts is very clever, hardworking and funny. It’s OK to like more than one person.

    • MipMip says:

      Supporting women isn’t a zero-sum game. We don’t need to tear one down just to like another. VB is actually quite witty, as others have stated. Judging her solely on her resting bitch face and this hairball the DM hacked up is disappointing.

  10. Lucy2 says:

    So the people with two young children who live on the other side of the world aren’t super close to casual friends they had while living in the UK anymore? Shocker.

  11. Kit says:

    For years it has been alleged the Victoria Beckham lies a lot about most things l. personally wouldn’t believe a word she said , full of it . To be honest after the World Cup the Beckhsms lost any respect that they had left.

    • Jaded says:

      “Lies a lot about most things”? What nonsense, you don’t know her. And the Beckhams do command a lot of respect. They’re both hard-working and successful, and David’s new team, Inter-Miami, is doing well enough to have signed Lionel Messi, one of the top soccer players in the world. Do a little research before you post utter falsehoods.

      • Kit says:

        Respect the Beckhams now there’s a headline lol.!!

      • Jaded says:

        @Kit – No, respect their work ethic. Respect that their kids aren’t Chet Haze-level fuckups and drug addicts. I’m no Beckham stan but they’ve survived and flourished by dint of hard work, resilience and determination, not by lying.

  12. Yes the tabloids will do and use anyone to make a negative story about the Sussexes. Things must be bad for Can’t and Peg so distraction is needed.

  13. ThatsNotOkay says:

    The Beckhams seem to be the ones who cause the drama. They can’t even get along with their daughter-in-law over a dress. Like…they can’t seem to keep friends as they social-climb their way into obscurity and loneliness.

    • Jaded says:

      The drama, if any, came from the DIL. She’s a notorious rich, nepo mean-girl. In any event, she originally asked Victoria to design her dress on a short timeline but Victoria was inundated with work and didn’t have time to do it. End of.

  14. Becks1 says:

    It just seems to me they were never BFFs so why would they be hanging out with them all the time now? The Messi game is a nothing burger – Serena went because she lives in Miami (right?), Kim K went because she’s Kim Kardashian, etc.

    So this just feels like a nonstory but I guess the BM needs their clicks.

    • Nic919 says:

      It’s also a non story that they didn’t fly from California to Florida just to watch a soccer game.

  15. sevenblue says:

    I remember that the tabloids were mocking Meghan and Harry for not getting invited to the wedding. Then, the bride sued the caterer and the invitation list was among the public documents, which showed M&H were invited. As far as I remember, this is how we know they got invitation, but did not attend.

  16. ABritGuest says:

    The tabloids were eating good when H&M were in the uk & palace sources were leaking like crazy. They won’t accept being cut off from the royals they call irrelevant & are doing everything to find out info on their circle & who they are associating with. so I think a lot of these ridiculous stories around snubs etc is to fish for further info.

    They will probably have a snub/fallout story about every celeb H&M wedding guest or democrat politician if Meghan remains quiet.

    • Nic919 says:

      They would have a lot of stories if they actually said what was going on at Adelaide Cottage. They just act like PR for that family.

      And the Dan Wootton story is something they need to address. The silence of the tabloids is deafening when they went wild over Huw Edwards.

      (While the Sun has potential legal reasons to stay quiet because former employees are involved, no one else does)

      • Snoodle says:

        Considering how much the tabloids over there like to trade and share employees, it could very well involve more than the Sun.

        And Wootton might have targeted people high up in the other tabloids as either insurance to keep negative stories about him out of the press, or just in case he moved from the Sun to one of the other tabs and had to re-build his network of hate and despair.

  17. One of my marys says:

    I disagree. If someone on the Beckham side leaked the wedding invitation that’s not harmless. It was leaked for, what, more attention to the wedding? I’d think high profile people the world over have to trust each other and maintain some discretion and privacy.

    • Cosmic Cow says:

      Beckham is one of the most famous people on earth. He doesn’t need to do that for attention. He’s got 63 million followers on IG.

  18. UnstrungPearl says:

    This is probably made up. As a few people have pointed out above, the Beckhams are closer to Will and David is obsessed with getting a knighthood, so he won’t jeopardise that by publicly supporting the Sussexes.
    However, one thing did occur to me. We know the RF leaked Sussex stories to the press in a deal to cover up their own scandals, this arrangement could definitely happen with other people too? The Beckhams have several closets full of skeletons, it actually wouldn’t surprise me if they leaked Sussex stories in exchange for covering up their own scandals. Not saying they have done this, but the press are so desperate for Sussex news it could be a bargaining chip for someone really desperate?
    Just thoughts!

  19. Oh, is that so? says:

    “ The word is cruelly used by critics of the one-time soap serial actress to describe how she is seemingly able to swiftly move on from some of those once closest to her.”

    We, we are the cruel critics. Where are the cruel critics that use a cruelly.

    #Backpat

  20. Mary Pester says:

    Why does this useless rag keep fishing with the wrong bait, Megan ain’t gonna bite because she’s used to your bullsht, but while your busy in your offices looking for the next story, can you tell us how the Daily Mails favourite reporter / columnist Dan (sick man) Wooton is doing please, we are soooo worried about the Scum ball. NOT

  21. Sunny O says:

    Great.

    The DM is now creating racist, misogynistic, and moronic verbs based on Meghan Markle’s name.

    Revolting!

    • Snoodle says:

      No, they lifted this piece of vocabulary straight from the obsessive Meghan haters online. They’ve been using this term since AT LEAST the wedding, if not since the dating announcement.

  22. Lili says:

    Isn’t it more likely that the beckhams are distancing them selves from H&M it’s well known that David wants a gong from the Royals that’s why he flew all the way from Qatar to Boston and stood inline for the wake

  23. L4Frimaire says:

    Why are they constantly policing the Sussexes private friendships and keep in a tally of who they hang out with? When have the Sussexes ever been friends with this couple? Seriously, have they ever hung out socially? I meeting people at events of having mutual does not a friendship make. They live on opposite sides of the country, have never been photographed together socially apart from their wedding. I just don’t get it. Don’t the tabloids regulate a go at Victoria Beckham anyway, questioning her MIL status and state of her business? Weird. So desperate for Sussex content.

  24. Chelsea says:

    This really just comes across as the UK press still not being over the fact that Meghan left and has no need to feel validated by them and it’s sad. They’re always lying about how everyone hates Meghan and wants nothing to do with her but are so bitter about her not rating them that they’re now writing articles about her ditching celebrities as a proxy for their pain over her not wanting anything to do with them.

    Also Meghan’s close relationship with Victoria Jackson isn’t rumored; Victoria was literally featured in M’s cover story with the Cut and talked about how they threw Harry’s birthday party at her house and Meghan talked about how she and some of the other women in their community were a support for her after the Oprah interview(iirc the photo shoot for the Cut was actually taken at Victoria’s house). We don’t hear a lot about it because they don’t leak but H&M seem to have a nice supportive group of friends in Santa Barbara.

    • SARAH H says:

      Harry’s birthday? You mean Meghan’s birthday because Harry’s 38th birthday fell on Elizabeth’s mourning period.

  25. Blujfly says:

    I don’t remember Kate getting a pithy nickname for the many former friends and staff members she “froze out”

  26. ML says:

    If you google Daily Mail Victoria and David Beckham divorce, you will get a treasure trove of articles dating back YEARS about the Beckhams heading for divorce, not divorcing, separated, evil rumors, etc. In other words, the DF seems to have difficulty accurately reporting on the Beckhams’ private lives. Added to the fact that they also have difficulty reporting on the Sussexes, this article is probably their so they get their clicks.

  27. The British media just want to put a wedge between the relationship of these two famous people. They’re egging on the Beckhams to sever their ties with the Sussexes and phase them out to further isolate them from the British people.

  28. Wannabefarmer says:

    This is what happens when one has NO access to H&M and NO ONE is leaking. I suspect H&M are still friends with a lot of people, everyone just keeps is private. I was shocked when she talked on her podcast about the wife of the Canadian PM coming for a visit and hanging out by the pool, giggling like school girls or something to that effect. It was really nice to hear that they still see each other b/c they’ve been friends for years. In this vein, I suspect she is still friends with Jessica, they just keep it on the downlow – b/c let’s face it, if that story the influencer made public was true, Jess behaved badly but -she’s never betrayed Meg- I suspect Meghan would not just dump her, they’d address it. People who get cut off are people who betray her or treat her badly. On this point, that’s exactly what I do.

  29. May says:

    So, the Beckhams get “absolutely bloody furious” at the Sussexes and do not invite them to functions. And yet, the Beckhams are the ones being “Markled?”.

  30. Saucy&Sassy says:

    This is just something to write. I can’t imagine that there was a ‘friendship’ between Harry and David or Meghan and Victoria. I think they are probably acquaintances. The brf takes advantage of those kinds of celebrity acquaintances whenever possible. Of course, the brf invited them to H&M’s wedding.

    Did anyone else catch this, “But the accusations, which The Mail on Sunday has been told came in a tense phone call, fractured the Beckham friendship.” How would anyone know what was said in a phone call? That’s really stretching to get a story out.

    It’s 2342 FLIGHT miles (3769 km) between LA and Miami. It’s 2733 DRIVING miles (4398 km) between LA and Miami. It’s unfortunate that the bm story writers are unable to pay for some geography lessons. If they took geography lessons, they wouldn’t make such idiotic comments.

    • May says:

      @saucy, this story about Harry speaking with David and letting him know that the Sussexes believed that Victoria may have divulged some info about them or Meghan has been around for a few years. Initially, if I recall correctly, the story was that Harry and David spoke over the phone about this and David got really pissed off at him. It was also said that Harry either during that conversation or later apologized. This story came out only after the British tabloid press tide was turning firmly against the Sussexes, particularly Meghan.

      But the funny thing is, at that time the story allegedly came from the Beckham camp! It was allegedly David who leaked the information about the alleged conversation where he denied leaking any information! You can’t make this up.

      Do I believe that there could be a grain of truth to this story? Sure, why not (only because I wouldn’t put it past the Beckham’s using Harry and Meghan’s names, and info about them, for clout). However, it still makes the Beckhams look really bad.

  31. tamsin says:

    Two couples at completely different stages of their lives and their careers and even different ages each going about their own very busy lives.

  32. AC says:

    The British tabs has been writing crap about the Beckhams for years. I’m glad they’re both grounded and have always been united that they don’t care about the lies written about them. David and Victoria has already proven their narratives are true and the BP only writes lies about them.
    And yes , they still don’t get the sheer size of the US. It’s not like a convenient train ride from London to Paris or London to Brussels. Miami and LA are both in the opposite sides of the country end to end. You leave LA in the morning and Miami is also 3 hours ahead of the Pacific time zone – in a way you pretty much almost lose 1/2 a day, and that’s if you have a non stop flight without any delays.