Sitting at the kitchen table of the Beckhams’ Cotswold home, 14-year-old Harper is busy putting pen to paper.
It’s Christmas Eve, and behind her a line of stockings hang waiting to be filled while to her right there’s a plate of treats and a glass of milk for Santa – not to mention a carrot for the reindeer.
The moment was captured by her mother, fashion designer Victoria, who shared it with her 33million followers on Instagram, under the caption: ‘Manifesting her wishes’.
Was the teenager, once inseparable from her eldest brother Brooklyn, 26, hoping for a reconciliation and an end to the family feud that has defined 2025?
We do not know because, most unusually, it was followed by silence.
On Christmas Day, unlike most years, there were no posts from David, Victoria, Romeo or Cruz.
In previous years the Beckhams have uploaded pictures of themselves throughout the big day, including in their pyjamas, cooking and generally celebrating.
Sitting at the kitchen table of the Beckhams’ Cotswold home, 14-year-old Harper Beckham is busy putting pen to paper. Victoria, shared it with her 33million followers on Instagram, under the caption: ‘Manifesting her wishes’
On Boxing Day, Victoria finally posted some heartfelt photos, including one of her standing next to Cruz, another of David playing with Harper, and another of her, David and her parents Jackie and Tony.
The pictures, as beautiful as they are, are much more subdued than normal.
‘It’s very out of character for them to have such a low-key Instagram day,’ noted one source connected to them.
‘Maybe it’s because they are hurt.’
And while that is certainly one interpretation, eagle-eyed (and eared) followers will have noticed that a couple of the images from Victoria’s stories show her dancing with Sir David to the Barbra Streisand and Barry Gibb hit Guilty, containing the line ‘we’ve got nothing to be sorry for’.
Only Cruz’s model girlfriend Jackie Apostel was on Instagram on Christmas Day itself to share her festive joy at the Beckhams’ £10million converted barn in Great Tew, Oxfordshire.
She posted pictures of herself dressed in a chic black frock as she posed with the couple’s youngest son.
‘Ittt’s (sic) Christmas,’ wrote an excited Jackie, 30. There was another snap of her with Libby, Victoria’s sister Louise’s daughter.
Eagle-eyed (and eared) followers will have noticed that a couple of the images from Victoria’s stories show her dancing with Sir David to the Barbra Streisand and Barry Gibb hit Guilty
Libby is another family member who was once close to Brooklyn, as the cousins were born within months of each other.
And Brooklyn?
Last weekend the eldest Beckham son blocked his entire family – including it is thought Harper – amid claims he and Nicola wake up worrying about what has been posted about them overnight.
But it doesn’t seem to have stopped [ital]him[ital] posting on his own social media.
Brooklyn – who is spending the festive season with his wife’s family in Florida – has uploaded a series of pointed posts.
First, he shared a video which was posted to his Cloud23 hot sauce TikTok account of himself sauntering along a road as Lady Gaga’s hit Telephone played in the background.
The words ‘sorry I cannot hear you I’m kinda busy’ were emblazoned across the photo, which many interpreted as a message for his parents.
Only Cruz Beckham’s model girlfriend Jackie Apostel, left, was on Instagram on Christmas Day itself to share her festive joy at the Beckhams’ £10million converted barn in Great Tew
And then on Christmas Eve he posted a photo and accompanying caption to his Instagram account, declaring Nicola, 30, is ‘his everything’.
The picture showed the couple holding hands while celebrating the festivities with Nicola’s billionaire parents Nelson and Claudia Peltz in Palm Beach, leaving his parents under no illusion that he was having a pop at them.
And on Friday Brooklyn shared pictures of his day – playing tennis with an American pro, Reilly Opelka, at the Peltzes’ compound.
It would, for sure, have been a kick in the teeth for his parents who have always given him so much support with his sporting ambitions.
‘Brooklyn knew what he was doing,’ one source assures me.
Friends tell me the latest breach was ‘totally unnecessary’ as both sides had been ‘rubbing along together’ after a difficult summer following Brooklyn and Nicola’s decision to snub his father’s 50th birthday celebrations in May.
On Boxing Day, Victoria finally posted some heartfelt photos, including of Sir David at their home
Brooklyn hasn’t spoken to his parents since, though he made a point of wishing his little sister a happy birthday in July.
Then recently, Victoria, 51, ‘liked’ a video her eldest son posted of himself roasting a chicken, sparking comments from their combined millions of followers that they should make up.
While to most people the ‘like’ will seem an innocuous move from a proud mother, in the world of celebrity a social media interaction can be the equivalent of a call to arms.
The public comments calling on him to make up seem to have annoyed Brooklyn and may have been the final straw for him, prompting him to block his family.
Of course, there are always two sides to every story.
But what has sparked bewilderment within the Beckhams’ circle is the 26-year-old made his decision – described by many as ‘very, very hurtful’ – so close to Christmas.
Brooklyn knows just what a special time it is for his parents, siblings, aunties, uncles, cousins – and his beloved grandparents.
Brooklyn Beckham shared a video which was posted to his Cloud23 hot sauce TikTok account of himself sauntering along a road as Lady Gaga’s hit Telephone played in the background
Insiders suggest despite the assumption that Brooklyn is a ‘dippy nepo kid’, he must have known what he was doing and was aware his move would command headlines over the festive period.
‘Brooklyn always loved Christmas with his family,’ an insider says.
‘There were Instagram posts all over the place. Whether it was in the Cotswolds or Miami, Brooklyn would be posting away with his family.
‘David and Victoria love family gatherings, as did Brooklyn before he took himself off with his new family.
‘Christmas is very special for them but now this has happened. It all feels like a right mess.
‘They’d give anything to have him back, the door is always open.’
I’m told that David and Victoria have accepted Brooklyn’s decision to estrange himself from them.
They are, say family friends, more concerned about the sadness that Victoria’s parents Jackie and Tony, as well as David’s parents Sandra and Ted, are experiencing following Brooklyn’s decision to cut himself off.
If there was anger too, many would think that justified.
Those in the Beckham circles called me this week to remind me of the ‘leg-ups’ that David and Victoria have given Brooklyn.
Harper hugs her dad David with a huge smile in pictures posted by Victoria of the Beckhams’ Christmas in the Cotswolds
I’ve long been told that David and Victoria have felt elements of guilt over uprooting their young family to Los Angeles when David signed a deal to play for US soccer side LA Galaxy in 2007 when Brooklyn was eight.
It meant that for five years, wannabe footballer Brooklyn didn’t have access to the high level of coaching his father had enjoyed at the same age, which may have contributed to him failing to make it as a professional.
However, when they moved back to the UK in 2013, he did spend time with Arsenal youth academy, before that he was with Queens Park Rangers youth side, but these soon fizzled out too.
After his football career failed to take off, they made every effort to help him realise his dreams.
At 17, and still a student, he released a book of his photography with Penguin Random House featuring 300 pictures of his life, travels and family. Some dubbed the photos ‘out of focus’ but nevertheless there was also an exhibition at renowned auction house Christie’s and a gig shooting the Burberry Brit fragrance campaign in 2016.
On Friday Brooklyn shared pictures of his day – playing tennis with an American pro, Reilly Opelka, at the Peltzes’ compound
At the time Victoria was very close to the Burberry boss Christopher Bailey and the hiring prompted outrage amongst professional photographers who believed they were passed over for the job for a celebrity offspring.
A work experience placement with legendary photographer Rankin followed.
There was also a lucrative deal to be the face of Pull & Bear – a clothing retailer – which was set up by Sir David’s team.
Even today, despite appearing to despise his father, arguably Brooklyn is still cashing in on Beckham senior’s success with his hot sauce Cloud23. Twenty three is the number of David’s shirt from when he played for Real Madrid and LA Galaxy.
This, I’m told, is not lost on Posh and Becks who dutifully attended the condiment’s launch at Whole Foods in Kensington last year.
One former family associate told me: ‘Brooklyn is a very lucky boy. David and Victoria always wanted to give him what they could, they adore him.
‘Unlike literally every other boy his age his parents’ connections meant he had some incredible opportunities.
‘David and Victoria wanted to give him a shot at something.
‘It isn’t his fault that he was born into extreme privilege and wealth, but their view is that they would support their kids in the careers that they really wanted.
‘With Brooklyn it all went a bit over the top. They did a lot, now he’s behaving like an ungrateful sod.
Victoria posted pictures of, left to right, Romeo, David and Cruz during Christmas
‘He seems to have forgotten all of this when he’s whingeing on about how terrible his life is.’
Tomorrow the Beckham clan will be back in the public eye when they join a host of other celebrities to celebrate Holly Ramsay – daughter of their close friends Gordon and Tana – when she marries Olympic swimmer Adam Peaty.
But despite once being close to the bride as a child and teenager, Brooklyn won’t be there.
Sources say before the fall out he would have been looking forward to an event with such close family friends.
But while David and Victoria have accepted their first born won’t speak to them, they must surely hope he will find a way to put a smile on Harper’s face before 2025 is out.
‘That really would be the right thing to do,’ says a friend.
Aged 12 when she was born, Brooklyn doted on Harper, who in turn is said to idolise him and was a bridesmaid at his wedding to Nicola in 2022.
Now though sources say that she has seen Brooklyn only once – maybe twice – this year as the feud between him and his parents became increasingly fractious.
But as one source close to the family says: ‘Harper has done nothing wrong. She’s a child. Why punish her?’
