This should have been a celebratory week for the Beckhams. Time magazine, which has in the past chosen Marilyn Monroe, Martin Luther King and Barack Obama for its cover pictures, has bestowed the same honour on David Beckham after singling him out from The 100 Most Influential Leaders In Philanthropy.
Meanwhile, his wife Victoria has been in Dubai celebrating the launch of her latest capsule wardrobe collection, and speaking candidly about being a working mum with four children.
‘I’d like to think I’m a good mum, a good wife,’ she said. ‘I try the best I can. I work hard. I like to think I’m a kind person. I’m very positive. I love good energy.’
And let’s be honest, she has certainly needed all that positivity amid the fallout with her eldest son Brooklyn who seems to have abandoned his loving family.
Brooklyn and his wife Nicola Peltz conspicuously failed to turn up at any of the events to mark his Dad’s milestone 50th birthday.
On Monday he and Nicola flew into London from LA, where they live, for a joint fashion shoot. Astonishingly, they could not find the time to visit the Beckham family home just miles away.
As my colleague Katie Hind reported, Brooklyn didn’t even bother to let his parents know that he was going to be in London, and that was deeply upsetting for the Beckham family.
While they were here, Dad David was pictured a stone’s throw away from where Brooklyn was spotted, at the Chelsea Flower show chatting to King Charles and Queen Camilla. Surely they could have met up.
Brooklyn and his wife Nicola Peltz conspicuously failed to turn up at any of the events to mark his Dad’s milestone 50th birthday
Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz at the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi last December
But no. The couple chose instead to have a date night at their luxury London hotel.
Nicola posted a gushing tribute to her husband as she shared snaps online of a cosy picnic they enjoyed together ‘@brooklynpeltzbeckham I love you so much baby,’ she wrote.
Insiders blame the rift on Nicola, daughter of the billionaire US frozen food mogul Nelson Peltz. They claim she creates dramas whenever Brooklyn and his wife are expected to appear at Beckham family get-togethers.
It seems to me that, although Nicola is only four years older than Brooklyn, she effectively has a cougar relationship with him. She comes across as more worldly-wise, as well as demanding, sexy and petulant.
For his part, Brooklyn has been struggling to find a career for himself so is especially susceptible to the control of an older, more calculating wife.
And for some unfathomable reason Nicola appears to want Brooklyn all to herself.
What must particularly grate with Victoria and David is that Nicola, a hitherto unknown actress, milks the Beckham brand for all it’s worth. Brooklyn has assumed the Peltz family name and both use it for all social media and self-promotion.
Neither the Beckhams nor the Peltz Beckhams (as Brooklyn and Nicola now term themselves) have spoken publicly about what for David and Victoria and their other children – Romeo, 22, Cruz, 20, and Harper just 13 – must be a heartbreaking schism.
Nicola may now seem to be the iron fist in the velvet glove controlling Brooklyn, but I have no doubt that will change over time. Given that he comes from such a tight-knit family, it can’t fail to.
He will, in time, miss his parents too much, his siblings and the incredibly close bond they once all shared.
When the scales finally fall from his eyes and he sees his wife for what she is – a publicity-seeking diva, using his family to raise her profile – he will return to the fold.
He’ll become the prodigal son who seeks forgiveness for all the hurt he has caused, and will be lovingly embraced back into his family – minus one Nicola Peltz. To my mind, that return to the fold cannot come a moment too soon.
