There are surely few lovebirds in the world keener to share their joyful mutual devotion than Brooklyn Peltz-Beckham, 26, and his wife Nicola, 30.
Brooklyn is covered in tattoos dedicated to his beautiful actress wife of three years – such as inkings of her eyes, extracts from a note she wrote to him and dedications to her two grandmothers.
The word ‘Peltz’ is emblazoned in massive script across his chest and he happily – if unusually – took her surname in combination with his own upon marriage.
He remembers and celebrates the date on which he proposed in 2020, as well as the date of their wedding and they have appeared together on many magazine covers talking about their great love.
And so it is doubly curious that the occasion of their recent, secret vow renewal has flown almost totally under the radar.
There have been no pictures on Instagram from either of them, even though the couple’s 19.2million combined followers have been treated to pictures of everything from Brooklyn making a sandwich to him waiting while his wife tries on clothes in Zara this week.
I can reveal that the event certainly happened, outside New York, last Saturday.
It’s thought they chose to hold it at Nicola’s billionaire father Nelson’s massive estate in Bedford, Westchester County, to ensure complete privacy.
There albino peacocks roam the grounds of the 130-acre estate which boasts an indoor ice rink, and the glorious gardens even include a waterfall.
Although not ‘super formal’, it transpires that it was very much a wedding event with between 100 and 200 invited guests and is understood to have featured speeches and a wedding dress.
What it did not include, however, were any members of the groom’s family.
David, Victoria and Brooklyn’s siblings Romeo, Cruz and Harper were not invited for the simple reason that at the moment neither side has any contact with the other.
A spokesman for the couple declines to comment on any details of the event or the guest list.
However a friend of the couple says: ‘Nicola may post a picture at some point, but they are in no rush. This was done for their friends and family to enjoy themselves. That’s why she didn’t post right away.’
Brooklyn and Nicola Peltz-Beckham relax while holidaying on the Peltz superyacht in St Tropez last month
One consideration, additionally, is that they don’t want to fan the flames of the Beckham family conflict, which shows no signs of dying down a full three months after Brooklyn’s failure to attend any of father David’s 50th birthday parties – or congratulate him on his knighthood – brought it so plainly into the open.
But surely nothing could be more incendiary than a secret ‘wedding’ – as many of the tensions which have divided eldest son Brooklyn from his family were brought into the open at his April 2022 wedding. One wonders if the couple felt they had to recreate their special day because of unhappiness with the first?
I’ve been told both Brooklyn and Nicola were left in tears after singer and Beckham family friend Marc Anthony, Jennifer Lopez’s ex-husband, performed at the reception and referred to Brooklyn’s mother Victoria as ‘the most beautiful woman in the room’ as he introduced Victoria’s ‘first dance’ with her son.
The bride and her family felt that was astonishingly rude, odd and in bad taste.
Tensions were already running high because, as we know, in the run-up to the wedding, Nicola said that she was informed by Victoria’s atelier they would not be able to make her wedding dress.
She opted for couture Valentino on the day and did not wear anything by the Victoria Beckham label although she changed outfits three times.
There were other tensions too, over everything from the security to the seating plan (no top table for the Beckhams).
Some fellow guests felt the Beckhams had their noses put out of joint because they were not regarded as the most interesting or famous people in the room, which was full of millionaire and billionaire pals of Nicola’s tycoon father Nelson.
And even though Brooklyn’s sister Harper was a bridesmaid, and brothers Cruz and Romeo were groomsmen, some guests came away with the feeling that this celebration, held at the Peltz mansion in Palm Beach, Florida, was a Peltz-dominated event rather than a joyous celebration shared by two families.
Nicola’s brother perhaps reinforced this notion with his wedding speech when he advised Brooklyn to make Nicola and her happiness his only priority.
By contrast, David gave a speech, during which he cried, and said that they were so glad that Nicola was becoming a part of their family.
The newly re-married couple were spotted on Tuesday night in New York as they took a romantic stroll near the Brooklyn Bridge
Although both sides made efforts to make up after the wedding, with Nicola attending two of Victoria’s fashion shows in Paris and being photographed wearing her clothes, and Victoria supporting Nicola at the premiere of her film Lola, which she also wrote and directed, the two women appeared unable to get along.
As to who is to blame – you get a different account from each side. Victoria’s friends say that Nicola is ‘impossible’ and that she dominates Brooklyn. Nicola’s friends say the Beckham family won’t let Brooklyn be his own person.
So has a ‘do-over’ renewal allowed the couple to lay the ghosts of those unhappy memories of their less-than-perfect big day, in the bosom of the Peltz family who love and celebrate them whole-heartedly?
I’m told that the guests were all from the USA.
‘It was all about the feeling of love and people who were sharing in it, and everyone was from America.’
A source says that Brooklyn and Nicola haven’t posted on social media because they don’t want to do anything to provoke the Beckhams – or to further the narrative that they are ‘at war.’
Brooklyn wished his little sister Harper a happy 14th birthday on Instagram last month, but this gesture was swiftly described by Beckham sources as a ‘publicity stunt.’ It did not, then, lead to any lessening of the rift.
A source says: ‘There was no ulterior motive for the vow renewal, it was simply a chance to celebrate their love. It is not a shot at the other side. It should be taken at face value as a positive event.
‘It was a chance to enjoy each other and to celebrate with their family and friends. They have lots of blessings and they are very grateful for those.’
The source adds: ‘Obviously there were things about the first wedding that were not positive but we are trying to be positive only.
‘The renewal was not against someone else. The narrative which keeps being pushed is that everything that they do is in some way anti the Beckhams and that is not the case.
‘Everyone will be better served by focusing on the good. There is relentless negativity directed towards Brooklyn and Nicola and it could stop.’
Those close to the pair say that they continue to be wounded by the apparent briefings from the Beckhams which say their son is ‘controlled’ by his ‘viper’ wife and claim that she has made family relations impossible.
The briefings have been backed up by various acts of apparent aggression on social media, notably from Brooklyn’s brothers, model Romeo, 22, and aspiring musician Cruz, 20, who have blocked Brooklyn and his wife on Instagram.
Some believe that they have caught Cruz ‘liking’ abusive comments about Nicola on Instagram as recently as last week.
One recent report in the New York Post cited a number of Instagram notes shared by Cruz saying things like ‘Ur a d*ck now’, ‘Ur dead to me’ and ‘Oh it’s Stockholm syndrome.’ It’s not clear to whom these notes were addressed – although it would be shocking if he was abusing Brooklyn in this way.
David and Victoria Beckham pictured watching his football club Inter Miami play against Orlando City in 2023
Even an outsider can see why Brooklyn and Nicola are desperate for this ‘campaign’ against them and their marriage to end.
Brooklyn is a sensitive young man, by his own description, and he is in an invidious position if the family whom he loves so deeply are unable to accept the wife he adores. As he said in May, just after David’s birthday no-shows created global headlines, Brooklyn puts his wife first.
Alongside a video of them riding a motorbike he wrote: ‘My whole world x I will love you forever x. I always choose you baby x you’re the most amazing person I know xx me and you forever baby.’
A friend says: ‘Candidly, the negativity of the other side in their briefings repulses Brooklyn and does not bring them any closer to resolving the issues. I think it’s obvious that Victoria Beckham really loves Brooklyn, but when you get frustrated the answer is not to go out and make a war and apparently allow people to brief against your own son. That is not the answer.’
The friend adds: ‘I can promise you that nobody wants this. Nobody wants the situation now.’
The family difficulties have apparently overshadowed the news of David Beckham’s long-awaited knighthood – when it was announced in June, many stories focused on the reaction, or lack of reaction, from Brooklyn.
And in a few weeks’ time, there will be more attention on the family when Victoria Beckham’s Netflix documentary comes out.
Like David’s own documentary for the streamer, it is expected to be a very flattering series – made by David’s production company – which focuses on her professional achievements.
The family are not – and have never been intended to be – a part of it.
However some who are close to the Beckhams thought Victoria would try to resolve the Brooklyn situation before she embarks on a press tour for the legacy-building series.
‘I did think that she would want to put this to bed over the summer,’ says an associate. ‘I am surprised that she hasn’t, even though everyone who knows her knows how utterly furious she has been with Nicola. The feelings are very strong.’
But as she bobs around the Mediterranean this week with her family, including her two younger sons who seem openly hostile to the eldest, making peace seems to be a distant prospect indeed for the Beckham matriarch.
