The truth behind Harper Beckham’s birthday at Buckingham Palace,
While best known for his football career and marriage to Posh Spice, David Beckham has long described himself as a ‘huge royalist’.
The former England captain, who was appointed an officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2003, first struck up a friendship with William and Harry in the 1990s and attended both of their weddings.
And after years of developing a close bond with the Firm – even queueing to see the late Queen lie in state – he was awarded a knighthood as part of the King Charles’s Birthday Honours List earlier this year.
With royal connections and money being no object, it seems only natural the Beckhams would spare no expense for their childrens’ parties.
Today, David and Victoria Beckham’s youngest child, Harper Seven, turns 14.
While the teenager is unlikely to want a princess-themed party this year, eight years ago she was treated to an afternoon tea party of a lifetime by Prince Andrew and the Duchess of York.
Back in 2017 when six-year-old Harper was enrolled in a top London Stage school attended by Pixie Lott and Louise Redknapp, the Beckhams made headlines for sharing photos of their daughter dressed as Princess Elsa from Frozen joined by a group of friends inside Buckingham Palace.
Details of the supposedly private tea party were kept secret on the day until David and Victoria posted a series of photos on Instagram days later, much to the royals’ dismay.
The ‘indiscreet’ publication of the pictures which showed the children enjoying the run of the royal residence caused frustration at the Palace.
One image was taken by the former footballer inside Andrew’s private office with Princess Eugenie.
Eugenie can be seen kneeling down with her arms around two of Harper’s five friends who were invited to the Palace.
Underneath the picture, David wrote: ‘Lucky Harper meeting a real life princess at the Palace.’
A third photograph shows Harper on her own, holding a red balloon in the Palace’s central quadrangle, with the message from mother Victoria: ‘Our little birthday princess x Kisses.’
As the pictures went viral – being viewed several million times within hours – both the Beckhams and Buckingham Palace came under fire online.
One critic wrote: ‘If you have enough money you can buy anything!!’
Another said: ‘Is this a new commercial venture by the Royal Family or do all little princesses now get an invite?’
At the time royal author Robert Jobson warned that Buckingham Palace should not be seen as a ‘party venue for millionaires’, particularly when the Queen was due to receive £370million of public money for a top-to-toe refit.
He said: ‘It seems odd to me that if you have the money or connections then the Palace – a building funded by the British taxpayer – can be used in this way for a selected few. If it is just for the rich and famous it is simply not right.
‘The Palace is the venue for glittering state occasions but when it is used – or misused like this – surely the public is entitled to know how it came about, who organised it, was money paid and why it is only open to rich and famous ex-footballers.’
David posted a further post after the party adding: ‘One last picture of the birthday girl.
‘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… We were honoured to be able to be there…’
Asked to explain why the tea party was held, a Buckingham Palace spokesman at the time confirmed the ‘private’ event.
He said: ‘From time to time members of the Royal Family who reside at royal residences invite guests to visit privately.’
A royal source added: ‘Any costs in terms of refreshments were covered by Andrew privately.’
Sources close to the Duchess of York insisted it was a ‘family’ event, with the invitation being extended by the whole of the York family.
‘Members of the Royal Family often invite friends for tea at the palace and the Beckhams are family friends. This was a treat for Harper and some of her friends,’ the source said.
However, they admitted the Beckhams’ decision to publish photos had not gone down well.
‘It was very indiscreet for them to have posted pictures on a public forum of what was a private family event,’ they said.
It seems that the Royal Family’s disagreement with the Beckhams was soon resolved as David and Victoria were invited to Harry’s wedding a year later.
The Beckhams, who have a combined fortune estimated at £455million, made a very generous gesture in the run-up to the Sussexes’ big day.
When Meghan returned to her native Los Angeles to find paparazzi camped outside her mother’s home, the Beckhams offered the former actress the use of their six-bedroom, Italian-style villa in the city, where she was waited on by their staff.
And after Meghan moved into Kensington Palace, Victoria, whose fashion label was expanding into beauty products, gave her advice on make-up and a member of her staff provided her with help on facials and hairdressing. Free of charge, of course.
When news of the Beckhams’ generosity made the press, however, Meghan was said to be outraged.
The Beckhams denied leaking information but the reportedly hyper-sensitive Harry and Meghan became distrustful of them.
The Mail on Sunday was told in July 2023 the accusation left David ‘absolutely bloody furious’.
And while David and Victoria did go on to attend Harry and Meghan’s wedding ceremony, they were not invited to the evening reception.
When Harry and Meghan prepared to make their move to California and step away from royal life, the Beckhams refused to take sides in the row between them and Prince William and his wife Kate.
David had previously got to know William when they both played an important part in the bid for the 2010 Fifa World Cup. Although the bid was unsuccessful, the pair stayed in touch.
The retired footballer had always been an ardent royalist, who would stand up for the Queen’s Speech every Christmas dressed in his Sunday best. Plus he queued for 12 hours to view the Queen’s coffin when her body was lying in state in Westminster.
David said one of the reasons he wanted to pay tribute to the late Queen was that some of his biggest moments on the football field involved honouring Her Majesty.
‘Every time that we stood there when we wore those Three Lion shirts and I had my armband and we sang God Save The Queen, that was something that meant so much to us.
‘Every time that we did it, it was something special,’ he said.
This comes as Harper’s brother, Brooklyn, and his actress wife Nicola Peltz are embroiled in an escalating feud with his family and previously failed to publicly acknowledge David’s milestone 50th birthday on May 8.
David and Victoria’s 26th wedding anniversary also passed without mention, despite the former Manchester United and England footballer referencing Brooklyn in his own post.
And sources fear Harper could be ‘collateral damage’ should they fail to acknowledge her birthday celebration as the feud with her parents escalates.
An insider told The Mirror: ‘Harper’s been particularly affected by what’s going on because she’s always been really close to Brooklyn.
‘They’ve always had a lovely bond because Brooklyn was that bit older when Harper was born and the hope when Brooklyn married Nicola was that she’d become like a big sister to Harper in a house full of brothers.
‘But obviously that hasn’t happened and it’s potentially going to be heartbreaking for Harper if Brooklyn doesn’t show up for her on her birthday.
David previously thanked wife Victoria for their ‘beautiful children’ as the couple both acknowledged estranged son Brooklyn while celebrating their 26th wedding anniversary on July 4.
The former footballer who also shares sons Romeo, 20, and Cruz, 22 with the ex Spice Girl, 51, shared a series of throwback snaps of the family in happier times.
Declaring his love for Victoria, who he referred to as Lady Beckham following his Knighthood, he wrote: ’26 years today you said YES to me Happy Anniversary and thank you for giving me our beautiful children and building the life that we have together.’
He went on to tag his children, including estranged son Brooklyn.
Victoria, 51, also tagged her eldest son, captioning her post: ‘Another year, another chapter in our love story.
‘I’m so proud of the beautiful family and life we’ve built together. You and our four incredible children complete me. I love you so much @davidbeckham. Here’s to 26 years!!’
Despite the apparent olive branch, insiders believe Brooklyn will not be in attendance for Harper’s birthday.
The source added: ‘He took a stand and missed his dad’s 50th so he’s not likely to suddenly do a U-turn and forget everything that’s happened, as much as he loves Harper.
‘But if he did, it could be a much-needed olive branch to start repairing things. An end to the family drama would be the best birthday present Harper – and her parents – could ask for.’
