Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Sanitized Relationship

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle—long the subject of rumor and speculation over the strength of their relationship—may have just been shown a novel solution by the king and queen of British celebrity.

David and Victoria Beckham's marriage has been thrust into the limelight by the soccer star and Inter Miami co-owner's Netflix biopic Beckham.

And they offered a very different love story to the Sussexes, with one of the biggest viral moments of the four-part series being a point of conflict, not adoration.

Social media ran wild with a clip of David sticking his head around the door to tell Victoria to "be honest" about the fact her father drove her to school in a Rolls-Royce after she had described her upbringing as working class.

Beckham, however, has faired far better than the Sussex's own Netflix biopic, Harry & Meghan, with critics and audiences alike.

Reviewers gave the Beckham documentary 93 percent on average compared to 46 percent for Harry & Meghan, according to Rotten Tomatoes. And audiences gave the former 97 percent and the latter 19 percent.

While arguably counter-intuitive, the Beckham's warts-and-all love story may shine a light for Harry and Meghan on the path out of gossip about their marriage.

Relationship Speculation

TikTok and other social media platforms are awash with wild speculation about hidden cracks in Harry and Meghan's marriage, which reached fever pitch in 2023 at the unfounded suggestion of a secret $80 million divorce.

The couple then put on a major public display of affection at the Invictus Games, Harry's tournament for wounded veterans, in Dusseldorf, Germany, in September which blew much of the gossip out of the water.

There remain, however, constant videos analyzing their body language, many of which rely on slowing down mobile phone footage from public engagements to dissect blink-and-you'll-miss-it interactions.

The main theme, for those with little time to research such sinkholes, is that Meghan controls Harry, pushing herself in front of him, or holding him back with what some TikTok users have termed "the Markle claw."

Christopher Bouzy, founder of data analysis firm Bot Sentinel, previously told Newsweek: "They definitely should be concerned about this content that's been produced and put on TikTok. A lot of this stuff does get millions of views.

"The question is whether it is influencing other folks. We don't have data on that but yes, its definitely influencing some folks."

While much of this commentary can—and no doubt should—be best ignored, the idea that underpins much of it is that behind the outward projection of perfect couple bliss lies a less happy internal power dynamic.

Harry and Meghan have spent many on-screen minutes, and memoir pages, waxing lyrical about how much they love each other and how perfectly suited they are to one another.

Yet, there are experiences they have been through that must have tested that bond—even if they ultimately came out stronger for it.

While much of social media may be little more than gossip and speculation, Harry and Meghan have, despite six hours of Netflix documentary, never offered a warts-and-all account of their relationship.

And there is much they could discuss, not least of all the fact Meghan accused an unnamed member of the prince's family of engaging in "concerns and conversations" about the color of their unborn child's skin only for Harry to say in the same interview it was a story he would never tell.

Relationship Pressure Points

One of the most high-profile single allegations the couple have made since quitting the palace came in their March 2021 Oprah Winfrey interview when Meghan said: "In those months when I was pregnant, all around this same time...  so we have in tandem the conversation of 'He won't be given security, he's not going to be given a title' and also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he's born."

However, Harry said during the same interview: "That conversation I'm never going to share, but at the time it was awkward. I was a bit shocked."

And in January 2023 he said Meghan had not accused the royals of racism, but rather unconscious bias, and appeared to backtrack on Meghan's use of the word "concern," saying: "I think that you speak to the majority—maybe not all—but the majority of mixed-race couples around the world, that the White side of the family would wonder, whether talking openly about it or amongst themselves, what their kids are gonna look like."

"The key word here was 'concern,' as opposed to 'curiosity,'" he added. And he told ITV at the same time his family were not racist: "No, the British press said that, right? Did Meghan ever mention 'they're racists'?"

Meghan too told their Netflix show she had never imagined the moment would become so big: "I thought that me being very open about the depression that I experienced and just how extreme that became... I thought that would be the biggest takeaway.

"But it was entirely eclipsed by the conversation surrounding race."

Put it all together and after starting a major global debate about racism in the royal family, her original comments appear to have had some of the force taken out of them—though the reality of what was actually said is still far from clear.

Harry, though, has only ever blamed any confusion on the British media and did not give any insight into his own emotional response to his wife revealing conversations he said himself he did not want to share.

It would be fascinating to know what went through his mind while he was sat being grilled about it by Oprah, what they discussed afterwards about the fact Meghan had disclosed those details, how they reacted as a couple to then seeing it dominate media coverage of the interview in a way that Harry felt misrepresented his impression of the situation.

He has shared his frustration with the media but how did he feel about Meghan's comments and how she phrased them at one point saying she would not name the royal because: "I think that would be very damaging to them."

Did Harry think Meghan had overshadowed the story they were trying to tell about his family's overly close relationship with the media or institutional indifference to Meghan's mental health, for example?

And through what journey did he decide, more than a year-and-a-half later to seemingly backtrack? Whose idea was it and how did Meghan feel about that?

We do not know because they have never shared.

There has also been more since, in the aftermath of Harry's book both royals saw their U.S. popularity plummet, no doubt driven in part by ridicule over his stories about his frost-bitten penis.

How did Meghan feel watching her own supporters turn to detractors over a memoir she did not write?

These are all questions that may never be publicly answered but it would be extremely rare and unique for a relationship to go through so much without an argument, cross word or crisis.

To not share those tensions poses questions about the reliability of the picture-perfect version of their marriage presented in Oprah, Netflix and Spare. Openness on the other hand would show confidence in where their marriage is now.

The Beckhams' Biggest Scandal

What the Beckhams achieved in their Netflix show was a believable account of their relationship, even in moments when they were clearly not giving the whole story.

After all, they had their own major drama, the tabloid stories accusing David of a 2003 extramarital affair with Rebecca Loos, his former personal assistant and a Dutch model.

Both David and Victoria discussed the scandal on camera. They looked decidedly uncomfortable and did not actually confirm whether the allegations were true but did share their emotions, however difficult.

"I can't even begin to tell you how hard it was. And how it affected me," Victoria said. Asked whether it was the most difficult period in the marriage, she added: "A hundred percent. It was the hardest period for us because it felt like the world was against us. And here's the thing, we were against each other, if I'm being completely honest."

And David said: "Every time we woke up, we felt there was something else. And you know we felt, I think we both felt at the time that we were not losing each other but drowning."

"I don't know how we got through it in all honesty," he continued. "Victoria's everything to me. To see her hurt was incredibly difficult. But we're fighters. And at that time we needed to fight for each other, we needed to fight for our family. And what we had was worth fighting for. But ultimately, it's our private life."

Harry and Meghan's documentary led critics to argue they were trashing Harry's family while living in a palatial Montecito mansion during a period of economic crisis for ordinary families.

Beckham is also not without its villains, former England soccer manager Glenn Hoddle chief among them, yet they did not garner the same criticism.

There are a number of factors there, not least that Harry and Meghan had told their story several times before and so the bombshells were not new but they also broke a PR rule—that people who criticize others should also own their mistakes.

Whatever the truth about Loos, the Beckham's willingness to show their own flaws, failings and past tensions signals to viewers the believability of their account of their love and happiness and earns them the right to criticize others.

Prince Harry's Journey to Therapy

Harry and Meghan, by contrast, have shown little willingness to share the blame for the disintegration in royal relations and have also rarely acknowledged tension between them.

The one major exception was a story Harry told his Apple TV mental health documentary The Me You Can't See about how he got therapy after an argument, though he didn't go into details.

"I knew that if I didn't do the therapy and fix myself that I was going to lose this woman who I could see spending the rest of my life with," he said.

"When she said, 'I think you need to see someone,' it was in reaction to an argument that we had. And in that argument, not knowing about it, I reverted back to 12-year-old Harry."

The revelation they had argued did not spark criticism, despite the fact the couple are frequently pounced on by the British press.

It may be that in reality the public would welcome seeing more of the bad and, if so, then getting the other side of their relationship story might also render their account of mutual adoration, pride and respect all the more believable.

The divorce rumors emerged in a vacuum while the Sussexes were out of the limelight for months and were shattered when Harry and Meghan filled that vacuum at Invictus.

The body language speculation that frames Meghan as controlling also exists in a similar vacuum in which viewers sense there must be more behind the perfect version they project.

To show the tensions and be visibly comfortable talking about them would therefore demonstrate confidence that past disagreements are not terminal and remove the vacuum that allows gossip to thrive.

Jack Royston is chief royal correspondent for Newsweek, based in London. You can find him on X, formerly Twitter, at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.

Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.