You could cut the atmosphere with a Jimmy Choo stiletto. One-time best mates Katie Holmes and Victoria Beckham are caught in a row over which of them is the queen of style. Katie, 29, was so furious over Victoria, 33, being cover girl for a recent issue of US Vogue that she called her a street tramp and mocked her tattoos.

Now the pair are hardly seen together and the row is jeopardising Tom Cruise's plan to invest more than $109 million in David Beckham's football team LA Galaxy.

A friend of Katie says: 'Katie was on the cover of Harper's Bazaar in the US last year and she's envious Victoria scored Vogue.'

Victoria received lots of praise for her shoot. By contrast Katie's photos were unremarkable.

What's especially galling for Katie is that she used to be the senior partner in the friendship and still looks down on Posh.

A source says: 'Katie and Tom are true Hollywood royalty. They turned Victoria and David into stars in the US, and threw
a party for them when they arrived there.

'The friendship was on Katie's terms and she would laugh at Victoria's crude ways,' the source adds. 'But it's needling her that she's being made to look as if she doesn't have any taste and needs Victoria to help her.

'She's sick of Victoria's style. So when Victoria told her to get tattoos, she said: "Tattoos are trashy. I wouldn't be caught dead with one.'''

Victoria's latest tattoo features the Latin phrase de integro, meaning 'afresh' and marks her and David's renewal of their wedding vows. The meaning is important to her, so she was offended by Katie's comments.

Our source reveals: 'Victoria said: "How dare she attack my tattoos! I know more about fashion than she'll ever know. I have my own line. I've told her what to wear - she used to dress like a schoolgirl."'

Tom, 45, isn't thrilled about Victoria's style advice. 'He preferred Katie looking more conservative,' an insider says.

But Tom is thought to be an operator in all of this too. He's holding the LA Galaxy purchase over David's head as leverage to get him and Victoria to accept Scientology. Only time will tell whether the powerful foursome manage to stay friends.

Text: Now magazine/IPC Syndication

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