It’s been over two decades since Queen Elizabeth II awarded David Beckham his OBE and since that day in 2003, he’s pined for the highest honour given out by the royal family – knighthood.
After years of being snubbed, the 50-year-old retired football player has finally been added to the King’s Birthday Honours list and will be knighted by King Charles next week.
“There are no words to describe how much David wants this, and he genuinely deserves it,” a source close to David and Victoria reveals to Woman’s Day.
“The Queen would have given it to him years ago if he hadn’t had his emails hacked.”
Just last month, Charles and David were spotted briefly chatting about a letter inviting recipients to accept the King’s honours at the Chelsea Flower Show.
“You got it didn’t you?” Charles asked the soccer superstar, to which he replied “It was incredible, thank you. It was very kind.”
BITTERSWEET CELEBRATION
While the soon-to-be Sir David’s new title is a massive honour, not everyone in the Beckham clan will be joining in on the celebrations thanks to an ongoing feud between David and Victoria’s two sons, Romeo, 22, and Brooklyn, 26.
The Beckham brothers started butting heads in December when Romeo started dating model and DJ Kim Turnbull, 25, who was close to Brooklyn in 2016.
Despite Romeo splitting from his girlfriend Kim Turnbull just days ago, the source says there’s no signs he and Brooklyn will be reconciling any time soon.
“Victoria’s worried that the feud is going to put a dampener on such an important historic occasion for their family,” the source tells. “It’s not every day someone gets a knighthood and even Brooklyn knows how much his father deserves this.”
Since the feud started, Brooklyn and his wife Nicola Peltz, 30, have skipped David’s star-studded 50th birthday bash in April and Victoria’s Parish Fashion Week show in March.
“The whole family are elated, but of course the only sore spot is Brooklyn,” the source shares.
“David can get over birthday parties, but something like this – something he’s worked for ever since getting the England cap. It’s incomprehensible that Brooklyn won’t be there.”
As the family feud continues, Brooklyn and Nicola have cosied up to Prince Harry and Meghan, and recently hired their lawyer to help manage their public image.
“Brooklyn has painted himself into a corner with the Royals anyway after having dinner with Harry and Meghan, so even if things were patched up between him and his father, he may not be trusted at any Royal events in the near future,” says the source.
YEARS IN THE MAKING
With David’s many achievements on and off the football pitch making him a firm contender for knighthood multiple times but other concerns got in the way of him achieving his long-coveted dream.
Since last year, David has been an ambassador for The King’s Foundation and has been working closely alongside King Charles to “create better communities where people, places and the planet can coexist in harmony.”
He was first pegged to receive the top honour in 2011 after he helped ensure the Olympics were coming to London the following year, but was blocked by the Honours Committee after he became embroiled in a tax avoidance scheme, which was only resolved in 2021.
In 2017, a leaked rant about the perceived snubbing expressed David’s annoyance with not receiving his knighthood sooner – and referred to the Honours Committee as ‘a bunch of c***s’.
“Who decides on the honours? It’ a disgrace to be honest and if I was American I would’ve go something like this ten years ago… It’s p***ed me off the old unappreciative c***s.”
At the time, a representative for David slammed the reports as ‘misleading’, however, one of Becks’ close pals later told The Mirror that the messages were sent ‘in the heat of the moment’.
But as the King’s Birthday approaches and David’s getting his knighthood, the source says he’s also hoping the milestone will help bring his family back together.
“David’s putting on a brave face, but it will be tough not having Brooklyn there,” the source tells.
“He’s hoping this might make both him and Nicola realise how ridiculous this estrangement is. The two of them are missing out!”
