Victoria Beckham had no financial benefit from having Meghan Markle wear her clothes, an explosive new biography has claimed.
Writing in the newly released House of Beckham, celebrity biographer Tom Bower claims the former Spice Girl’s decision to give the Duchess of Sussex free clothes did not increase sales.
“Victoria agreed to provide a coat, dress, boots and a handbag worth £6,000 to Meghan for the Royal Family’s traditional Christmas Day parade in Sandringham,” he claimed.
“Later, Meghan wore a Beckham custom-made pregnancy outfit and a white coat and dress for a service in Westminster Abbey.
“Victoria’s style also attracted Melania Trump. She wore a Victoria Beckham dress during the president’s official visit to London.”
But despite having two of the world’s most high-profile women wear her designs, other women were not inspired to follow suit.
“But the financial benefit was nil,” Mr Bower added.
However, Ms Markle’s endorsement of the designs – which notably failed to take off at the London Fashion Week, despite Harper Beckham sporting an Anna Wintour-style haircut – was not completely in vain.
“The only success in 2019 was a £1,400 handbag that had been displayed by Meghan,” Mr Bower said. But he added the sales were likely “prompted” by “Victoria’s Instagram video” and not the duchess.
This was not the only eyebrow-raising claim made about the two women in the new book.
Mr Bower claims Ms Markle also “deluded” herself into believing that her status in the royal family put her above Beckham “in the social pecking order”.
“In Meghan’s celebrity world, ranking depended on wealth and fame,” Mr Bower wrote.
He claims that after “putting on airs” around Ms Beckham, Ms Markle was “irritated” to learn the extent of her wealth.
“They owned five homes, had constant access to private jets, invitations to sail on yachts and much more money. And she was soon to be a duchess,” he added.
The biographer then claimed that the two women’s relationship fell apart when Ms Markle accused the former Spice Girl of leaking information about her to the press. It followed a story in The Sun, which claimed she had given the duchess makeup advice.
Mr Bower wrote: “Harry was ordered to complain to David Beckham.”
The fashionista denied leaking information to the press and speculated it must have come from a beautician, but the biographer claimed “the culprit was probably a boastful publicist”.
House of Beckham was released by HarperCollins on Thursday, 20 June.
The Independent has reached out to a representative for Victoria Beckham and Meghan Markle for further comment.
