Meghan's accusation led to an awkward phone call for Prince Harry. Photo / Getty Images
Meghan Markle accused Victoria Beckham of "indiscretion".
A recently released book has revealed the rocky relationship between the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and the Beckhams is due to an accusation the duchess made about the Spice Girl.
The Sun has reported Tom Bower said in his new book, Revenge, the row came about as the Sussexes were "addicted" to negative press coverage and would spend every evening reading articles about themselves.
Bower suggested in the book the duchess was "convinced" her friends were leaking stories to UK publications and believed the fashion designer was one of those friends.
After focusing her attention on the Beckhams and how they may be the ones leaking stories, it all came to a head when the duke confronted his friend, David Beckham, about it over a phone call.
Bower wrote in his book, "Harry and Meghan were shackled.
"Every night, they scoured the internet to read the newspaper reports and the trolls' postings on social media." Adding the two "irrationally" fed each other's frenzy and felt that as "champions of goodness" the media persecution led them to feel "victimised".
"Harry's instability fed Meghan's fears that friends were leaking stories to the media." Bower continued. "In particular, she suspected Victoria Beckham of indiscretion.
"Harry called David Beckham to repeat the accusation. Outraged, Beckham's truthful denials damaged their relationship."
The claims come after a 2017 article in which The Sun revealed the Spice Girl had offered friendly advice to the duchess amid her move to London.
In an attempt to make the move as seamless as possible, the pop star turned fashion designer offered her friend a list of trusted facialists, hairdressers and stylists to use.
Three years later, in 2020, the publication reported the famous couples were no longer friends due to Meghan's suspicions they were leaking personal information to the press.
A source at the time said, "When Meghan moved to London, Victoria shared a whole bunch of beauty tips but not long after, some of these emerged in print, and Meghan was furious.
"Inexplicably, she feared Victoria was behind it — I mean, the idea that Victoria Beckham would be personally ringing journalists to give them a scoop is ridiculous — and spoke to Harry about it."
The source continued to say a "protective" Harry took his wife's accusations seriously and called the former footballer. While the source said the duke was "very polite", the entire situation resulted in a "mortified" David and "certainly made things awkward for a while".
"It later turned out the leak probably came from a beauty salon," the source said, before revealing the couples are on talking terms once more.
Other bombshell claims in Bower's book include him describing the duchess as "ambitious" and "ruthless" with an "ability to make people afraid".