The Beckham dynasty, born of pop and football royalty, have prompted fevered speculation of Succession-style feuding over recent months.
So did it all come to a head at family patriarch David Beckham’s hotly anticipated 50th birthday party in London yesterday?
Daddy Beckham already kicked off the festivities in Florida with a party at Cipriani Downton Miami on March 30, attended by the likes of Lionel Messi and Tom Brady.
Then he celebrated his half century in on Wednesday with a family black tie bash at his £10 million Cotswold home. Photos shared on Instagram showed David and Victoria Beckham’s nephew Finlay went swimming in his tuxedo.
David’s actual birthday is May 2, and yesterday’s celebration was rumoured to involve an intimate lunch at Core by Clare Smyth, a three-Michelin starred restaurant in Notting Hill. Smyth trained under Gordon Ramsay, and her restaurant has previously been awarded the title of London’s best restaurant.
Sons Brooklyn Beckham, 26 and Romeo Beckham, 22 — the thought-to-be-feuding brothers — were both said to have been on the guestlist, with Brooklyn and his wife Nicola Peltz flying over from Los Angeles to attend the party.
But it turns out all those hours in the air were for nought. Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz didn’t attend David Beckham’s birthday party at all. Let’s break down the feud before we explain why.
The Beckham backstory
Stories about a break between brothers Brooklyn and Romeo began floating around in early April, centred on the news that Romeo began dating London-born DJ Kim Turnbull some time around December 2024.
Brooklyn and Kim used to run in the same crowd, but TMZ reported that the older brother is worried whether she has the “right intentions” in dating his younger brother.
Younger brother Cruz Beckham, 20, appears to be playing the peacemaker role. He recently shut down an Instagram commenter who claimed that Brooklyn and Kim had previously been romantically involved, stating “Brooklyn and Kim never dated.”
The evidence for a rift, anonymous sources aside? Brooklyn and his wife Nicola Peltz-Beckham, 30, have been notably absent from various family events that Romeo and Kim have attended.
They didn’t make it to Victoria’s show at Paris Fashion Week in March — but Romeo took Kim as his date.
Brooklyn and Nicola also missed Victoria’s 51st birthday party on April 17, which was held on the family’s superyacht in Miami. But this was because the couple were at Coachella, so maybe it was a diary clash rather than a snub?
Most of the rumours about a falling out chez Beckham have come from speculation about the family’s online interactions.
None of the family publicly acknowledged Brooklyn and Nicola’s wedding anniversary on April 9. Brooklyn didn’t publicly wish his mum Victoria a happy birthday. The rest of the clan regularly congratulate each other about major milestones on social media.
Brooklyn did not wish his dad happy 50th birthday on social media, for the first time ever. Romeo, however, shared a family photo and called his father his “role model”.
Brooklyn in London
As well as a four-year age gap, the Beckham brothers lead different lives. Brooklyn, an aspiring chef, lives with Nicola, who is pursuing an acting career, at their marital home in LA. The couple are joined at the hip and never spend a night apart from each other.
Romeo, meanwhile, still lives at home in London with mum and dad — aka Posh and Becks. He originally followed his dad into a football career, but quit to take after his mum and get into fashion. Not beating the nepo baby allegations, then.
There’s also some historic tension in the family, as Victoria reportedly had a disagreement about her daughter-in-laws wedding dress — custom Valentino — for their 2022 nuptials. Nicola did wear Victoria Beckham for her engagement photos, though.
Nicola and Brooklyn touched down in London last week, sharing photos of the Union Jack flags hanging over Regent’s Street. They were also pictured kissing at a Soho restaurant. The capital holds a lot of romantic memories for the pair, who first said “I love you” at Claridge’s.
All the signs pointed to the pair attending David’s 50th birthday bash, with the couple even skipping the Met Gala so they could make the London party.
Alas, they were conspicuously absent, which TMZ claimed was due to Brooklyn asking for Kim Turnbull to be uninvited from the event. When the family declined, Brooklyn and Nicola flew back to the states.
