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 are deepening.

I can announce that Prince William has appointed Beckham’s former PR chief as the new head of communications for his ground-breaking Homewards initiative to help end homelessness.

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

Victoria Shires, 34, spent three years as head of PR at Beckham’s DB Ventures, a portfolio of brands and companies that has raised millions for the former English football captain.

“It’s been a great first few weeks at the Royal Foundation of the Prince and Princess of Wales,” said Shires, who started her new job last month.

Her connections already seem to be paying off. She worked in program publicity at ITV for seven years, and the heir apparent’s two-part Homewards documentary was broadcast by ITV1 last week. “It was great to launch that as my first project here,” she says.

Last month, William and Beckham were photographed sharing a joke together as they inspected two London Air Ambulances bought with money they helped raise.

This week, the Beckhams’ eldest child, Brooklyn, 25, was asked if he was seeing more Harry and Meghan, or William and Catherine. “Probably William,” Brooklyn told the American podcast Watch What Happens Live. “He’s just the sweetest guy ever. He really is. He’s really down to earth. 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 and found paparazzi camped outside her mother’s home, the Beckhams offered the former actress the use of their six-bedroom Italian-style villa in the city, where she was served by their staff.

And after Meghan moved to Nottingham Cottage at Kensington Palace, Victoria, whose fashion label expanded into beauty products, gave her make-up advice and a member of her staff helped her with facials and haircuts. Free of course.

However, when news of the Beckhams’ generosity hit the press, Meghan was said to be furious. The Beckhams denied leaking any information, but Harry and Meghan reportedly became suspicious of them.

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

Despite that criticism, David agreed to Harry’s request to fly to Australia, where later that year he hosted the Invictus Games, his celebrated competition for wounded servicemen.

He made the arduous 22-hour journey from London to Sydney, only to find that the Duke would not see him or even have his picture taken with him.

According to leading biographer Tom Bower, the reason was Meghan. “She didn’t want any competition from David in the media,” he wrote in his book Revenge. ‘It seemed she was unwilling to tolerate anything flattering about the Beckhams and the Games in the media.’

It had been another sporting event that brought Beckham and Prince William together. Both played important roles in the 2010 World Cup bid. Although the bid was unsuccessful, the pair remained in touch.

David had always been a staunch Royalist, turning up for the Queen’s Speech every Christmas, dressed in his Sunday best. Years later, he stood in line for 12 hours to view the queen’s coffin as her body lay in state.

Sophie ‘so happy’ to be home after Jones split

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

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

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

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

King on the market for a 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 Liveried Helpers, who care for some of the most photographed horses in the world.’

The successful candidate, based in Windsor, must have ‘experience in driving horses or riding a postilion’. The salary is ‘competitive’. Dizzy!

First Dates Fred rakes in a fortune

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

The French sommelier, 52, has paid himself a £270,000 dividend in his company.

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

How J Lo came to grips with the wrestling role

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

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

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

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

“You have to have something comfortable physical as well as something emotional.”

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

The film was produced by Artists Equity – a company owned by her estranged husband, Ben Affleck, and she says the film was “relatable to women dealing with challenging relationships.”

Harry and Meghan absent from Hollywood friend’s birthday party

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

I only ask because Prince Harry and Meghan were not spotted at Foster’s spectacular 75th birthday show at the packed Hollywood Bowl on Sunday. And no birthday message appeared on the big screen; no message ‘Sorry we can’t be there’.

Foster, 75, a Canadian producer and musician, is said to be so close to Harry that he was described as a “father figure” following the prince’s feud 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. Their young son was a playmate for Prince Archie.