David Beckham has his sights set on knighthood as his relationship with King Charles continues to blossom.
“Beckham has done so much charity work with Charles and they are very close,” a source exclusively told Us Weekly. “Charles even gave Beckham a birthday present for David’s 50th [birthday].”
The friendship of Beckham, 50, and Charles, 76, was on full display at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Chelsea Flower Show on Monday, May 19, where the King was overheard asking Beckham if he had received his gift.
“[Beckham] really wants the knighthood, as he’s very patriotic and loves his country,” the source explained. “It’s in his grasp as he’s got past all his other scandals with his documentary and his charity work has been so impressive, but he’s worried this family scandal has been on all the front pages threatens to overshadow all his amazing charity work and could delay decisions about a knighthood.”
In the 2023 Netflix documentary Beckham, the former soccer star’s alleged affair in the early 2000s was discussed. While the matter was kept vague, Beckham’s wife, Victoria Beckham, called it the “hardest period in their marriage.”
The source added, “[David] loves the royal family and even queued on his own to pay tribute to the Queen when she died. He’s old school and respectful.”
David isn’t the only one who could receive the royal honor. Victoria, 51, “could also get a damehood for service to fashion,” the source added.
Despite being one of the most prominent British celebrities of his generation, David has never been knighted.
While David’s friendship with Charles hints at a possible development on that front, tension within the Beckham family has boiled over in recent weeks, which was decidedly evident when David and Victoria’s son, Brooklyn, 26, failed to attend his father’s 50th birthday party on May 3.
A separate source exclusively told Us at the time that David and Victoria are “over it.”
“They’ve thrown in the towel on the whole thing,” the insider said at the time.
At the center of the falling out is drama between Brooklyn and his younger brother Romeo’s girlfriend, Kim Turnbull, who Romeo, 22, has been dating since last year.
The source told Us that Brooklyn and his wife, Nicola Peltz-Beckham, offered a “separate meet-up” to celebrate David’s birthday in an attempt to avoid Turnbull, but David and Victoria declined the request.
A third insider has also told Us that the relationship between Victoria and Peltz, 30, has been filled with “bad blood” since between Brooklyn and Peltz tied the knot in April 2022.
“Things never really got smoothed over, and you can tell it still affects everyone,” the source explained. “The tension is still present and it’s hard for Brooklyn at times. Brooklyn’s having a tough time with it. He’s super stubborn and just wants space from his family right now.”
As David deals with his own familial mess, his friend Charles has been on the outs with his son Prince Harry for years.
In a tangled twist of fate, Harry, 40, and his wife, Meghan Markle, recently attended the same “intimate” dinner as Brooklyn and Peltz earlier this month. According to The Sun, the gathering happened “days after” Brooklyn and Peltz skipped David’s birthday party in London.
The foursome were all guests of Markle, 43, and Harry’s close friends, Paramount Pictures CEO Brian Robbins and his wife, Tracy Robbins, at their Montecito, California home.
