POWER MOVE

David Beckham Ditches Harry and Meghan for the King

Beckham is the king’s man now. But his hopes of a knighthood could still be hurt by his former PA and lover, who says he continues to exploit his power over her.

One of the great riddles of British public life is why David Beckham, a star former captain of the England soccer team, has never been knighted.

Various reasons have been given over the years, including his complicated love life as a younger man when he had an affair with his PA, and his involvement in a tax-minimization scheme that was subsequently ruled illegal.

In recent years, to these notions has been added his friendship with Prince Harry.

However over the past few months there has been a notable cooling of relations between the Beckhams and the Sussexes, after reports emerged that Meghan had apparently accused David and Victoria, who were once close enough to be invited to their wedding, of leaking stories to the press. The Mail reported that the accusation left David, “absolutely bloody furious.”

Enter, stage right, a smiling King Charles proffering dinner invitations—and perhaps a chance of that elusive gong after all.

The Sun reported Monday that David is now being wooed by the king and “has accepted an invitation for talks with Charles on becoming a celebrity ambassador for a royal charity” spurred on by “the hope he can sprinkle a little stardust on the Prince’s Foundation, which provides skills training to youngsters.”

In any divorce, former friends have to pick sides, and a source told the Sun: “It’s an open secret that David wants a knighthood one day and many people have questioned why he isn’t a Sir after all he’s done—and linking up with the king rather than Harry would certainly help.”

Beckham obliquely addressed the issue of his affair in the recent Netflix documentary Beckham, which his own company produced. He suggested he regretted the pain it had caused his wife, fashion designer Victoria.

But stirring up memories of the forgotten drama may yet prove unwise, as Rebecca Loos, the former employee with whom he had the affair, has now spoken out to defend herself and accused Beckham of, once again, using his power to misrepresent matters.

Speaking on British breakfast show Good Morning Britain Monday, Rebecca said, per the Sun: “When this documentary came I tried very hard to just let it go and get on with my life but it really bothered me about the angle they used and how he played the narrative, how misleading it is and how he makes me look like the bad person.”

Rebecca said: “When I went public all those years ago I stuck precisely to facts, because I was this 26-year-old with no support behind me going up against the most powerful couple in the world.”

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Tom SykesEuropean Editor at Large

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