Posh’s agony
David moves out!
Forget about Brexit – David and Victoria Beckham are on the brink of Beckxit! The celebrity power couple are due to celebrate their 18th wedding anniversary this year, but instead of popping open the bubbly, the famous footballer is booking removal trucks.
Worth a massive $1 billion between them, Victoria, 42, and David, 41, are carefully formulating a strategy that will allow them to leave each other without damaging their lucrative Brand Beckham, which earns them a king’s ransom every year.
And the $9 million estate they’re buying in the Cotswolds is a key part of their strategy, an insider reveals, speaking exclusively to Woman’sDay.
“They’re presenting it as a family country estate, but the truth is that David will be living there pretty much on his own, apart from when the kids are with him. He plans on splitting his time between the Cotswolds and Los Angeles, while Posh stays in London with the children.”
The nine-bedroom mansion, made up of three historic barns, is close to the home of director Guy Ritchie, one of David’s closest drinking buddies, and the insider adds, “It’s secluded enough to allow David to entertain other women in privacy. That’s important for both him and Victoria because they are determined to present a united front for as long as possible – even if they are leading separate lives.
“Their brand is worth tens of millions a year to them, so they want to continue with the masquerade of being happily married even if they aren’t living under the same roof.”
While David recently claimed that he and Victoria had renewed their marriage vows, sceptics noted how unusual it was that the pair, who share everything with the public, did not release one single photo of the occasion.
All for show
And the former Spice Girl last week gave an interview hinting that she’s struggling, confessing, “You can’t understate how hard it is to juggle a family and working. There’s a lot of pressure.”
Our insider explains, “She’s putting on a brave front, but Victoria is in agony. She’s worked so hard on her image and marriage, but it’s finally hit home that her relationship with David is a lost cause.”
We’re told Posh and Becks’ recent family skiing trip to Canada with all four children – Brooklyn, 18, Romeo, 14, Cruz, 12, and Harper, five – was carefully orchestrated.
“It’s all smiles until the cameras stop flashing,” insists a Beckham clan source. “Victoria wouldn’t even look at David. It was clearly a PR stunt – she
leapt from him after every single shot.”
Adds our insider, “They have been leading separate lives for a long time now and when they are together, they are always arguing in front of the kids. It’s not healthy.”
Under the couple’s new arrangement, when David is in London, he will stay at an apartment owned by his business partner and manager Simon Fuller.
The insider explains, “That way, no-one will start asking why David has suddenly bought a pad in London, and it also means that he and Victoria can continue to make the occasional appearance together in London.
“The problem will come, of course, when David eventually gets spotted with another woman. Posh, meanwhile, has made it clear she is married to her work and isn’t ready for another romantic relationship.”
Our insider says eldest son Brooklyn isn’t fazed by his folks spending so much time apart, while Cruz is so focused on his
music, he hardly notices. “He has just been signed by Justin Bieber’s manager,” says our insider. “The plan is for him to split his time between the UK and the US while he launches his pop career.”
Meanwhile, Victoria – who teetered on the brink of divorcing David back in 2004 when his PA Rebecca Loos claimed they’d had an affair – is in the process of removing all of her David-inspired tattoos, including the love tribute that ran down her spine. And David is slowly extricating himself from the designer’s world too, resigning as a director of her fashion company in 2014.
But after his embarrassing BeckiLeaks email hack, which revealed David was desperate for a knighthood, Brand Beckham can’t afford to take another personal hit like divorce so soon.
Our insider concludes, “It’s all about control and not damaging the brand. They intend to drag it out for as long as they can – certainly well into next year.”