When Brooklyn Beckham turned 15, he got a job as a barista in a Kensington coffee shop where his remuneration was a modest £2.68 per hour.
It was part of a plan by his parents, David and Victoria, to teach their children the value of money.
When Brooklyn wanted to move on to bigger things, younger brother Romeo was in line for the job, much to the delight of Posh and Becks who pride themselves on being self-made millionaires.
Not only that, but when the Grenfell disaster happened in 2017 – less than a mile from the Beckhams’ £25 million Holland Park mansion – Victoria sent the brothers to help with the relief effort.
However, Brooklyn’s wife Nicola Peltz’s upbringing couldn’t have contrasted more sharply. As the youngest daughter of US billionaire businessman Nelson Peltz, what Nicola wanted, she got.
Sources close to the family say he ‘threw money at anything and everything’ including the two Los Angeles homes where Nicola and Brooklyn have lived together since they began dating in 2019.
This week it was revealed Nicola and Brooklyn had moved into a new £11 million five-bed home in Beverly Hills, bought by Nicola’s father Nelson, pictured
This week it was revealed they had moved into a new £11 million five-bed home in Beverly Hills – close to where Brooklyn lived with his parents when they relocated to California in 2007 when David signed for LA Galaxy football club. Before that the young couple lived in a £7.7million mansion, with gym and sauna, after selling their first home – an £8 million pad also in Beverly Hills.
The properties were bought with Nicola’s money, gifted to her by Nelson and wife Claudia. This in turn has led them to accuse David and Victoria of being ‘tight with their cash’ for not following their example and providing their eldest child with a home.
The snipe comes amid a feud between the two clans that has seen Brooklyn, 26, effectively estranged from his family.
However, the accusation that they are ‘mean with money’ has prompted bewilderment from the Beckhams, as they have tried hard to keep their children grounded, despite their estimated joint wealth of £500 million.
One friend said: ‘The house, like the one before, was bought by Nicola’s trust fund, so money that Nelson and Claudia have given.
‘Where is the impetus to stand on your own two feet and work? Do the Peltzes realise what they sound like to sneer at David and Victoria for not buying Brooklyn and Nicola a house? The Peltzes clearly think it’s a positive thing but the Beckhams don’t.
‘All this does is prove that they are sensible parents who have instilled a work ethic in their children and makes the Peltzes look pretty awful to have just spoilt their daughter. What message does that send?’
David grew up in a modest semi in Chingford, East London, with his mum Sandra, a hairdresser, and dad Ted, a gas fitter.
Victoria’s upbringing was more middle-class: her father Tony was an electrical engineer with his own business and a Rolls-Royce which he drove his daughter to school in – earning her the nickname Posh Spice. They were hardly millionaires, however.
‘David and Victoria, like Nelson, are self-made,’ said a friend of the family. ‘But they value that and never forget where they came from. They have both made a huge number of sacrifices to get to where they are.’
The accusation that David and Victoria are ‘mean with money’ has prompted bewilderment from them, as they have tried hard to keep their children grounded, despite their estimated joint wealth of £500 million
David and Victoria believe Nicola controls Brooklyn and will start an argument whenever they are due to attend Beckham family events
Friends of David and Victoria also point out that while they haven’t bought Brooklyn and Nicola a house, she has benefited from the ‘Beckham’ surname which has helped both win brand deals, such as with Pepe jeans. ‘Nelson and Claudia don’t complain about that, do they?’ mused the pal.
The Peltzes also paid for Nicola and Brooklyn’s £3million wedding in April 2022 at their £76 million Florida home, though those close to the Beckhams suggest that’s because they wanted to ‘hold the power and control’ over the day.
While the Beckhams have helped their three sons with their dreams by giving them opportunities through their own bulging contacts books, they have been careful not to spoil them.
The friend added: ‘Each of the boys has been given one chance where their parents have really helped them. They understand the nepo thing and it was always going to be difficult for Brooklyn to get a “normal” job.’
Nicola, meanwhile, is thought to have enlisted her father’s help with her dream of an acting career.
I first revealed the rift between Brooklyn and Nicola and his parents in April this year, and later how the couple snubbed David’s 50th birthday celebrations in May, despite flying into London.
David and Victoria, 51, blame their daughter-in-law for the fall- out, believing that she controls Brooklyn and will start an argument whenever they are due to attend Beckham family events.
Brooklyn insists this isn’t the case and said last month that he will always choose Nicola first.
There was no sign of the trouble ahead for the two families when Brooklyn and Nicola met at a Halloween party in LA in 2018. In fact, the Beckhams were rather impressed – and excited to meet their prospective in-laws.
So in January 2021, as lockdown was lifted, the Beckham gang jumped on a private jet to Florida where they joined the Peltzes at their Palm Beach mansion.
Insiders told me that the trip went so well that three months later, at Easter, Nicola and mother Claudia, 70, sent Victoria a hamper containing £500 of gifts and a handwritten note.
However, things soured following a fall-out between Nicola and Victoria in 2022 as the run-up to Brooklyn and Nicola’s wedding became increasingly stressful.
There was, it’s been reported, bad feeling over everything from Nicola’s choice of dress (Valentino, rather than one made by her designer mother-in-law), the seating plan and even details of the first dance. It was also reported that Nelson was getting tired of his son-in-law not having a job.
The medium of choice for exchanges in the ensuing feud has been Instagram, where all parties have a huge following, with every ‘like’ and snub speaking volumes.
The Beckhams were devastated when Brooklyn and Nicola publicly praised Nelson and Claudia while ignoring them.
In April, there was another Easter basket from the Peltzes – this time delivered to Brooklyn and Nicola, prompting them to issue a very public thank you.
This was particularly painful for Victoria, given that Brooklyn hadn’t wished her a happy Mother’s Day a fortnight before.
Brooklyn also failed to wish his dad a happy Father’s Day last week while Nicola gushed public adoration for Nelson.
‘It all feels very pointed,’ said one source. ‘Like Brooklyn and Nicola are deliberately trying to rub David and Victoria’s noses in it.’
