The Italians have a wonderful saying: ‘Natale con I tuoi, capo d’anno con chi vuoi’, which loosely translated to ‘Christmas with you and yours, New Year with whomever you like’, only of course in Italian it has a rather pleasing rhyme to it.
In other words, duty first, fun later. Brooklyn Beckham may wish to reflect on this, as he prepares to spend Christmas estranged from his parents and siblings.
Christmas is a time of year where families, even the most dysfunctional, come together. I know this can be hard, but at the end of the day, unless there’s a really good reason not to, you have to bite your tongue and make the effort.
I speak as someone who’s not keen on Christmas. All the pressure, all the fuss, all the expense: it’s absurd. As to happy family Christmasses, for some reason disaster always seems to strike.
One year, I managed to break my arm while walking the dog; this year, I’ve dislocated a rib while moving a bed, which is jolly painful; a few years ago, I spent Christmas eve in hospital with my son after he tripped over the tree and went through a plate glass window, only narrowly missing an artery: 90-odd stitches.
Elsewhere, the annals of Vine family Chrismasses are peppered with tales of excessive drunkenness, petty rivalries and general discord.
All of which perhaps explains why these days I just slope off to the pub on Christmas day. I figure that if I take the cooking sherry and carving knives out of the equation, there’s less chance of spending the afternoon in A&E.
So I must confess I have some sympathy for Brooklyn, eldest child of Sir David and Lady Beckham, who appears to have checked out entirely from his family’s celebrations.
Brooklyn Beckham with his wife Nicola Peltz Beckham in Abu Dhabi… he appears to have checked out entirely from his family’s celebrations, writes Sarah Vine
David Beckham and Victoria at a football game in the US earlier this year
The Beckham clan last year… from left to right, Cruz, Romeo, Brooklyn, Harper, Sir David, Victoria and Nicola
It’s not unreasonable for him to want a break from his family now that he’s an adult and married, especially since his new wife and his mother don’t appear to be best of friends.
I remember that awkward emotional tug-of-war only too clearly: my ex-husband and my father didn’t exactly see eye-to-eye, and it was quite hairy at times.
And let’s face it, his parents are quite overbearing. They can’t really help it, what with being who they are.
Sometimes as a young adult you just want to be your own person, not ‘child of’, or ‘daughter-in-law-of’. Perhaps the young Brooklyn, so often pilloried and criticised for being a nepo-baby, is trying to strike out on his own.
So: like I say, a degree of sympathy. But what I really can’t understand – and is quite unforgiveable – is why he’s going about it in such an awfully antagonistic way.
He is, I’m afraid, behaving like the most appallingly attention-seeking, ungrateful brat. He has blocked his entire family from Instagram.
He’s also blocked close family friends Gordon and Tana Ramsay – and won’t be attending the imminent wedding of their daughter Holly to Olympic swimmer Adam Peaty (itself shaping up to be a right ding-dong, given the in-fighting between Peaty and his parents).
And all, apparently, over a chicken. In one of his cooking videos on Instagram, he showed his 16 million followers (who all, no doubt, follow him for his own genius and nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that his parents are famous) how to brine a bird.
The Beckhams in their Christmas pyjamas
Brooklyn and Nicola in Los Angeles… is Brooklyn, so often pilloried and criticised for being a nepo-baby, trying to strike out on his own, asks Sarah Vine
And the couple at an after party for Burberry’s 2025 winter fashion show in London
His mother, as mothers do, liked his post – and then some of his followers started urging him to get in touch. So he had some kind of strop, and blocked his family.
Slight overreaction, you might think. But then apparently, he and Nicola find his family’s social media posts ‘anxiety inducing’.
According to ‘a friend’ of the couple, they ‘wake up worrying what might have been posted about them overnight’. Talk about First World problems.
If he thinks his mum liking one of his posts is some kind of micro-aggression then he really is a ridiculous flake.
Either that, or his spoilt little princess of a wife (Nicola Peltz, another nepo-baby) has got him by the short and curlies, in which case no wonder his parents are so worried about him.
The Beckhams really have given their children, and especially their eldest, every advantage.
In Brooklyn’s case, there was the photography book, the Christie’s exhibition that went along with it, the work experience with Rankin, all the many contacts they used to get him a leg up.
It’s not unreasonable for them to expect a bit of gratitude, or for that matter a bit of filial loyalty. After all, does Brooklyn really think that the young Miss Peltz would have given him a second glance were it not for his parents’ wealth, fame and connections? I very much doubt it.
Perhaps he needs a reality check. If I were David and Victoria I would stop being so nice and give him a taste of his own medicine and cut him off socially. Let’s see how long he lasts in the real world without their money or support. I’ll wager that come next Christmas he’ll be back in the fold.
