Prince William’s links to David Beckham strengthen as he appoints the star’s former PR chief as communications boss of his key Homewards project

David Beckham was once so close to the Duke of Sussex that he and his wife, Victoria, were among the guests when Harry married Meghan Markle at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, in 2018.

The Beckhams have since distanced themselves from Harry and Meghan, but their ties with the Prince and Princess of Wales continue to deepen.

I can reveal that Prince William has appointed Beckham’s former PR chief as the new Head of Communications for his landmark Homewards initiative to help end homelessness.

Homewards is a five-year charity project run by William and Catherine’s Royal Foundation.

Victoria Shires, 34, was for three years public relations director at Beckham’s DB Ventures, a portfolio of brands and businesses generating millions for the former England football captain.

“It has been a great first few weeks at the Royal Foundation of the Prince and Princess of Wales,” says Shires, who started his new job last month.

Their connections already seem to be paying dividends. He spent seven years working in program publicity at ITV, and last week ITV1 broadcast the heir to the throne’s two-part documentary Homewards. “It’s been wonderful to have launched it as my first project here,” he says.

Last month, William and Beckham were photographed sharing a private joke while inspecting two London air ambulances purchased with money they had helped raise.

This week, the Beckhams’ eldest son, Brooklyn, 25, was asked if he watches more of Harry and Meghan, or William and Catherine. “Probably William,” Brooklyn told US podcast Watch What Happens Live. “He’s just the sweetest guy ever.” It really is. He has his feet on the ground. He’s a really good guy.’

David and Victoria, who have a combined fortune estimated at £455 million, were once so close to the Sussexes that they made a very generous gesture in the run-up to their wedding.

When Meghan returned to her native Los Angeles to find paparazzi camped outside her mother’s home, the Beckhams offered the former actress the use of their six-bedroom Italianate villa in the city, where their staff looked after her. .

And after Meghan moved into Nottingham Cottage at Kensington Palace, Victoria, whose fashion brand was expanding into beauty products, gave her makeup advice and a member of her staff provided help with facials and hair styling. Free, of course.

However, when news of the Beckhams’ generosity hit the press, Meghan was said to be outraged. The Beckhams denied leaking information, but the hypersensitive Harry and Meghan reportedly distrusted them.

While David and Victoria attended Harry and Meghan’s wedding ceremony, they were not invited to the evening reception, which was attended by some showbiz figures the Sussexes barely knew.

Despite that snub, David accepted Harry’s request to fly to Australia, where they would host the Invictus Games, their celebrated competition for injured military men and women, later that year.

He made the arduous 22-hour journey from London to Sydney only to discover that the duke would not see him or be photographed with him.

The reason, according to distinguished biographer Tom Bower, was Meghan. “She didn’t want competition from David in the media,” he wrote in his book Revenge. “It seemed like she was not willing to tolerate anything flattering about the Beckhams and the Games appearing in the media.”

It had been a different sporting event that brought Beckham together with Prince William. Both played an important role in the bid for the 2010 World Cup. Although the bid was not successful, the couple stayed in touch.

David had always been a fervent royalist, attending the Queen’s Speech every Christmas dressed in his Sunday best. Years later, he queued for 12 hours to see the Queen’s coffin as her body lay in state at the funeral.

Sophie ‘very happy’ to be home after split from Jones

Following Sophie Turner’s toxic divorce from American pop star Joe Jonas, with whom she has two young daughters, the Game of Thrones star finds it comforting to be back in Britain.

The Northampton-born actress this week received Harper’s Bazaar’s Woman of the Year award for her performance in ITV drama Joan. “I’m so happy to be back,” says Turner, 28, who wore a fringed white Louis Vuitton minidress to the ceremony at Claridge’s in Mayfair.

“I felt like my life was on pause until I returned to England,” he says. “I never feel like myself when I’m not in London, with my friends and family.”

After the breakup of her four-year marriage, the actress has found love again with Peregrine ‘Perry’ Pearson, son and heir of Viscount Cowdray.

King seeks new head coachman

This is the perfect job for an equestrian royalist: King Charles is looking for a chief coachman.

The job advert on the royal website explains: “You will lead our team of dedicated livery assistants, who look after some of the most photographed horses in the world.”

Based in Windsor, the successful candidate must have “experience driving horses or postilions”. The salary is “competitive.” Repent!

First Dates Fred wins a fortune

He’s the charming maitre d’on Channel 4’s First Dates, and Fred Sirieix certainly knows how to look after himself too.

The French sommelier, 52, has benefited from a £270,000 dividend on his business.

New figures from Art of Service reveal it made a profit of £750,000 in the year to July, taking its cumulative profits from the business to almost £2.1m.

How J Lo got into the wrestling role

Jennifer Lopez clearly took her role as a mother of four in the new movie Unstoppable seriously.

The biopic is based on American wrestling champion Anthony Robles, who beat the odds after being born with one leg.

J-Lo, 55, who plays his mother, Judy Robles, reveals that she invited her on-screen children to her house for authenticity.

“We had them come to my house and I became a mama bear on set,” she tells me at the Cineworld Leicester Square screening in London.

“You have to have that comfortable physical thing, as well as an emotional thing.”

The actress adds: “It was a beautiful character to play and I really enjoyed losing myself.”

The film is produced by Artists Equity, a company owned by her ex-husband, Ben Affleck, and she says it was “relatable for women facing challenging relationships.”

Harry and Meghan absent from a Hollywood friend’s birthday party

Is everything okay between the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and their Hollywood friends, David Foster and his wife, Katharine McPhee?

I only ask because neither Prince Harry nor Meghan were seen at Foster’s spectacular 75th birthday extravaganza at the packed Hollywood Bowl on Sunday. And no birthday message was broadcast on the big screen; there’s no “Sorry, we can’t be there” announcement.

Foster, 75, a Canadian record producer and musician, was said to be so close to Harry that he was described as a “father figure” after the prince’s falling out with King Charles. Foster and McPhee, 40, his fifth wife, who attended the same school as Meghan, offered support to the Sussexes after they fled Britain. His little son was Prince Archie’s playmate.