When it comes to Beckham vs Beckham, I can see both sides of the story, but on balance I’m team David and Victoria.
I’m sure being the son of two such image-conscious and arguably controlling parents can’t be easy. Then again, here is a young man who will never want for anything – and that, at a time when so many people are struggling, is not to be sniffed at.
If Brooklyn had half an ounce of sense or self-knowledge, he would see that the advantages far outweigh any disadvantages, and instead of spending his time drinking £75,000 bottles of wine with his spoilt wife (who reportedly gets a $1 million monthly allowance from her father, a fact that probably explains her weapons-grade princessery) would find something better to do with his life than complain about his parents.
After all, there are plenty of nepo babies out there with far more tricky parentage than young Brooklyn, and they seem to manage without throwing their expensive toys out of the pram.
Take Rocco Ritchie, for example. His mother is Madonna. As narcissistic, overbearing mums go, surely she wrote the book?
As for embarrassing behaviour, barely a day goes by when she isn’t pictured ‘dancing up on’ some fellow half her age or younger, usually in fishnets and a corset.
Personally, I admire her cougar spirit. But I can see that if she were your mum, it might sometimes feel a bit much.
And yet Rocco – who is about the same age as Brooklyn – seems to cope. He’s carved out a career for himself as an artist, and a pretty decent one at that.
There is one aspect of the Beckham family dynamic where I think Brooklyn has a point: the whole ‘Brand Beckham’ thing, and Victoria and David’s apparent insistence on involving their children, writes Sarah Vine
As to his filial duties, he’s a good lad: he shows up when required and smiles patiently for the camera alongside his pouting mother. He doesn’t go around bitching and moaning about it afterwards, either.
Likewise Lila Moss, daughter of Kate. Again, not the easiest of mothers to have to deal with, not the most stable of upbringings, but if anything, Lila is fiercely protective of her supermodel mum.
She even takes full responsibility for her decision to follow in her footsteps. ‘My mum always put me off [modelling],’ she once said. ‘She was always like, “If you want to do it, you can, but I wouldn’t recommend it.”’
Lily Collins (daughter of Phil), Lily-Rose Depp (Johnny and Vanessa Paradis), Zoe Kravitz, Dakota Johnson: the list is endless. All ‘children of’ who have used their leg up in life to get ahead.
That said, however, there is one aspect of the Beckham family dynamic where I think Brooklyn has a point: the whole ‘Brand Beckham’ thing, and Victoria and David’s apparent insistence on involving their children – especially when it comes to their youngest and most vulnerable child, Harper, aged just 14.
Her parents seem to be leading her down a similar path to that of Blue Ivy (also 14), who is the daughter of Beyonce and Jay-Z.
Blue Ivy was just 11 years old when she started performing alongside her mother on stage as a back-up dancer, and the reviews were brutal, heartbreaking actually, especially when you consider how young she was.
Quite why Beyonce and her husband decided to condone this remains a mystery. After all, it’s not as though either of them needed the money. It just seemed like a needless commodification of a little girl who really should have been at school or playing with her friends instead of performing highly suggestive dance moves in front of thousands of people.
The same, I fear, is becoming true of Harper. We have started seeing more of her, out and about at events (she was front and centre at the premiere of her mother’s Netflix film in October, and in Paris last week) and online, via her mother’s Instagram, putting on make-up and indulging in other ‘influencer’ type activities.
Her parents seem to be leading her down a similar path to that of Blue Ivy (also 14), who is the daughter of Beyonce and Jay-Z. We have started seeing more of her, out and about at events
The truth is that by putting Harper in front of the cameras at such a young age, Victoria is inevitably risking exposing her to the same pressures that caused her such agony
Victoria seems to enjoy dressing her up as a mini-me, putting her in her own designs, which are neither especially flattering nor age-appropriate. I don’t understand why – again, it’s not as if they need the money.
Like all children, Harper needs to interact with others her age in an environment where she can learn to be herself. Of course, it can be fun to attend a premiere or similar, but constantly thrusting her into the limelight risks storing up problems for the future.
It matters particularly in Harper’s case because she’s a girl. They have a much tougher time than boys for the sad reason that they are subject to more criticism about their appearance. That’s just the way of the world, especially in our social media age.
You might have thought that Victoria, of all people, would understand this. Because if there’s one thing she knows first-hand, it’s how damaging that scrutiny can be, especially at a young age. In last year’s Netflix documentary, she opened up about how intense criticism of her body led to a ‘crippling’ eating disorder, which she hid for years from her family. She’s also said that she works hard to instil a positive body image in her daughter – which is great.
But however hard she preaches acceptance at home, the truth is that by putting Harper in front of the cameras at such a young age, she is inevitably risking exposing her to the same pressures that caused her such agony.
Proof of this is the fact that Harper is already the subject of countless posts on TikTok and other platforms, many of them exploitative. Even if Harper isn’t yet on social media, one day she will be, at which point her image will have already been appropriated by countless strangers.
That kind of ego-depletion is hard enough for an adult, let alone an impressionable young person.
By dressing up her daughter for the cameras and taking her to high-profile events, the Beckhams are effectively not only giving away Harper’s right to privacy, but also to create her own identity.
Harper herself might not see the shadow cast by her parents as a problem as she is so young. But later down the line, who knows?
If there is a lesson to be learned from the Brooklyn situation, surely this is it. He may well be behaving like a spoilt brat, but that doesn’t mean Victoria and David shouldn’t take heed of what he has said about ‘Brand Beckham coming first’, or ‘family love’ being decided by ‘how much you post on social media’.
Brooklyn has already said he has no desire to reconcile with his family, which is terribly sad. I’m sure neither of his parents want that to happen again.
Both Victoria and David have chosen a life in the limelight, but Harper is still far too young to know what or who she wants to be. As parents, it is their job to provide her with the necessary support and education to find out – and not, as they appear to be doing, simply impose their own choices.
