10 hot stories, including the Beckhams’ bruising week, Kylie’s secret dates with Olivier, the £2.95 It bag you can buy today, plus Petra Ecclestone’s toxic divorce
FOLLOWING DAVID’S knighthood scandal earlier this year, Buckingham Palace is among the last places you’d expect to find the Beckhams (the others being the Chingford branch of Mcdonald’s and anywhere within a 12-mile radius of any of the other Spice Girls).
Not so. Last week, the 775-room palace was precisely where Harper Beckham was pictured celebrating her sixth birthday, alongside four of her closest friends and Princess Eugenie of York. The tea party, hosted by Prince Andrew and the York family, caused an immediate backlash, with the Beckhams accused of exploiting their privilege.
Critics complained that it was
inappropriate for taxpayers to foot the bill for the event at the Queen’s official London residence, with one writing on Twitter, ‘Have any kids from Grenfell been invited to celebrate their birthday at Buckingham Palace like Harper Beckham? If not, why not?’
Soon, Dickie Arbiter, a former Buckingham Palace press secretary, declared, ‘None of them has got a right to be there. Is it being opened up as a theme park? It devalues what the place is all about. Why do the Beckhams get special treatment?’
The backlash was completely unexpected. According to one source close to the family, ‘They were shocked by the level of vitriol towards Harper’s birthday and hadn’t in any way anticipated such a strong public reaction. This has been a hard year for them, following the knighthood debacle, and Victoria feels as if she can’t put a foot right. It’s taken her back to the early days of her marriage, when they were nicknamed ‘thick and thin’, and routinely torn down. She’s at a loss as to why people would be determined to be offended by a sixyear-old’s party. Naturally, she feels extremely protective of her children.’
David, 42, took to Instagram to defend his family, posting, ‘Just to be clear, this wasn’t the palace opening the gates for Harper’s birthday party. This was a tea party where us and other guests were invited so it was a beautiful thing to do with my mum, Harper plus a few
school friends.’ Meanwhile, senior Palace sources insisted that refreshments were paid for privately by the royal family, and that it was a coincidence that the tea party happened to fall on the days surrounding Harper’s birthday.
It’s not the first time this year that David has come under fire. In February, his email account was hacked and private messages leaked to the media. Among them was one branding the Honours Committee ‘unappreciative c***s’ after he was overlooked for a knighthood – despite a campaign that saw him post five tributes to the Queen in 18 months on Instagram. David was revealed to have ranted, ‘Katherine Jenkins OBE for what? Singing at the rugby and going to see the troops plus taking coke. Fucking joke.’
And more recently he was criticised for posting a picture of himself kissing Harper on the lips – sparking fierce debate among fans. Negative comments included, ‘On the lips??? What has the world come to’ and ‘not sure about this picture’. Other users jumped to his defence, with one interjecting, ‘This is very sweet. And by no means inappropriate. Give me a break!’
The source added, ‘Victoria was criticised for a similar picture last year, but they aren’t going to stop being affectionate with their kids because of a few trolls. Nevertheless, David gets annoyed about having his every move picked apart. He’s tired of having to justify himself endlessly.’
And it’s not just the couple under attack – even eldest son Brooklyn, 18, has become the subject of public criticism following the publication of his first book of photography, What I See. Particular scorn was directed towards a picture showing the silhouette of an elephant (caption: ‘so hard to photograph but incredible to see’).
‘This has been an exhausting year for the Beckhams,’ continued the source. ‘At times it’s felt like they’ve been fighting fires non-stop, which is a nightmare for a family known to have carefully cultivated their public image. They’re looking forward to a break in LA, when the kids finish school. They hope they can put the recent backlashes behind them.’
David’s annoyed about having his every move picked apart, of having to justify himself endlessly