War.. but they still posed for the cameras

'Pair fed negative stories to press'

- TOM BRYANT

GOLDEN couple David and Victoria Beckham lived separate lives as their marriage hit crisis point, an explosive new book claims.

The couple were allegedly so estranged they barely spoke and instead just maintained a "distant business relationship".

Their animosity was so bad in 2016 that each of their publicists "fed negative stories" about the other, Tom Bower claims.

In an extraordinary twist, Beckham even allegedly accused his wife of "waging a media war" against him.

But the pair ultimately stayed together and worked through their issues, just as they had after their marriage was rocked the first time by Rebecca Loos' claims of a 2003 affair with the footballer.

"Although the Beckhams could not hide their separate lives, they stuck together to support the brand," Bower claims. His book, The House of Beckham, paints a vastly different picture to that of the Netflix documentary, which was exec-produced by David's production house.

While the Beckhams alluded to the marriage problems in the wake of Loos allegations, more recent woes were ignored.

ACRIMONY

Serious cracks in the marriage began appearing in 2016 when the couple started spending increasing amounts of time apart, with David in Miami and Posh in London.

Bower writes: "During London Fashion Week that year, she asked Beckham to return to London for a dinner in her Dover Street shop.

"By the end of the celebration she must have wished he had stayed in America. Morosely, he sat staring at her guests. Some whispered that the two had been embroiled earlier in a foul-mouthed row."

Later that evening, Beckham was seen at Heathrow taking a late flight to New York.

Two years later, it's claimed the situation hadn't improved and, in many instances, had deteriorated.

By this stage, Bower claims that both Posh and Becks were the subject of negative briefings - by their other half's publicists.