Two family snapshots. One taken on a balcony to celebrate the 80th anniversary of VE Day. The other in a gorgeous Cotswolds garden to celebrate the 50th anniversary of David Beckham’s birth.
Both families are glowing, immaculate, but the smiles, to me, seem painted on, while the line-ups also look a little thin (and I’m not referring to the silhouettes of both Catherine and Victoria).
The reason for that hint of sorrow is that there’s a great big prodigal son-shaped hole in both scenarios.
Not even the most appealing family shindig – a lump-in-the-throat-inducing flypast or an ‘intimate’ dinner at a rural mansion – could tempt either Prince Harry or Brooklyn Beckham to join in.
Indeed, the estrangement of both from their birth families came to a simultaneous climax over the weekend. First, with Harry’s BBC confession on Friday that his father no longer speaks to him, and nor do many of his family, following years of bitter claims about Harry and Meghan’s ‘mistreatment’ by Buckingham Palace.
Meanwhile, as my colleague Katie Hind reported, Brooklyn was absent from his father’s lavish 50th birthday celebrations – despite having spent last week a few miles away in London. The Beckhams are said to be desperate to ‘get their son back’, as sources say, ‘they are done with Nicola now’.
Harry and Brooklyn’s trajectories are eerily similar and proof that privilege is a double-edged sword. Both have been famous since birth. Both have faced ridicule online and in print. Neither will surpass the achievements of their fathers – one the King of England and the other of English football.
At 40, Harry seems rudderless. Fourteen years his junior, Brooklyn, too, has failed to find his feet, dabbling in modelling, photography and now cookery.
It is fair to say they were floundering, until two glamorous and ambitious women swooped in from across the Atlantic to whisk them down the aisle.
For Harry, there came Meghan, the former Suits actress and lifestyle blogger, whom he married in 2018. For Brooklyn, there came Nicola Peltz, the billionaire’s daughter whom he married in 2022. And in years since, it seems that neither Meghan nor Nicola has taken any prisoners.
Both are slightly older than their husbands: Meghan is 43, Nicola, 30. Both have been actresses but are now what are described as ‘influencers’: Meghan with her TV shows and merchandise, Nicola with her ‘job’ as the face of a fashion brand. Both appear to crave attention and have a need to be in control.
Harry and Brooklyn have been described as ‘kind’ which, to certain high-powered women, can mean ‘malleable’. Both men are, I believe, victims of something akin to Stockholm Syndrome – falling in love with their wifely ‘captors’ while growing distant from their families.
For, indeed, when it comes to the reasons for the men’s estrangements, rightly or wrongly, fingers have been firmly pointed at their wives.
And is it any wonder? While we can never know what happens behind expensively gated mansions, both Meghan and Nicola’s modus operandi appear remarkably similar.
First, argue with your husband’s female relatives. Victoria and Nicola were said to be in dispute in the making of Nicola’s wedding gown (in the end designed by Valentino). Meghan had run-ins with Kate over something as trivial as whether or not the bridesmaids would wear tights.
Next, force your husband to take sides. Say you need to be near your family and your work. He agrees: yes, England can be cold and small-minded.
Then embark on a career as an ‘influencer’, with a lifestyle that is necessarily one of perfection, which means the husband is massaged into ever greater contortions as he tries to conform.
High-maintenance women don’t choose strong men, as they would forever be fighting.
But you must wonder, why separate their husbands from what made them catnip – their family connections – in the first place? Well, this type of woman doesn’t want anyone else whispering in their spouse’s ear. Best not to be reminded of what you sacrificed.
