Inside the Beckham family's messy dramas from conman in-law to 'ignored' nephew

06 October 2023 , 07:00

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Inside the Beckham family's messy dramas from conman in-law to 'ignored' nephew

Aside from the Royals, the Beckhams are probably one the most famous families in the UK. Posh and Becks, otherwise known as Victoria and David Beckham, have long been the focal point of kitchen table conversation in homes up and down the country. What else would you expect after one of the most famous footballers on the planet married one of the members of the world's biggest girl bands?

But it hasn't all be plain sailing for ex Spice Girl turned fashion designer Victoria, 49, and former Man U midfielder and England legend David, 48, - who are parents to Brooklyn, 24, Romeo, 21, Cruz, 18, and Harper, 12. Like many families, they have also suffered their fair share of family drama. From family feuds to controversial relatives going rogue, here The Mirror takes a look...

Victoria Beckham's conman brother-in-law

Victoria's sister Louise Adams and her ex Darren Flood (SWNS.COM)

Victoria’s ex brother-in-law Darren Flood, who was married to her sister Louise Adams from 2009-2014, was sentenced to 30 months in jail back in 2019 and ordered to pay back the £190,000 he made from scamming people. Flood, 42, was the director of The Commodities Link (TCL), and among seven con men jailed for the ‘boiler room’ scam that involved cold-calling people, mainly them pensioners, and persuaded them to invest thousands of pounds into earth elements metals and oxides which were practically worthless, with the false promise of making money. Flood used his connection with the Beckhams to target rich people and potential targets including the father of former Chelsea and England player Joe Cole.

Joanne Beckham's messy split from reality star

David Beckham's sister Joanne had a high-profile split from Big Brother star Kris Donnelly (krissydonners/Instagram)

David Beckham's younger sister Joanne Beckham dated Big Brother star Kris Donnelly from 2009 until 2017, the year she gave birth to their daughter Peggy. However, after their split in 2018 - six months after the tot was born - Kris accused his ex of only allowing him to see the child once in five months.

Sharing a sweet picture of himself cuddling up to his daughter on Instagram, he wrote: "I won't stop until I get hold of you like this again. They can take you away from me but they can't take away the special memories we made or stand in the way of us making more."

Brooklyn Beckham sparks backlash again with 'Scouse soup' after pasta fiasco

The reality star became an official campaigner for Fathers4Justice, which campaigns to get dads better access to their kids and reached out to David himself in a post through the organisation on Instagram, writing, "I'm asking David Beckham to join me in supporting #Fathers4Justice in reuniting children with their dads this Christmas. " Thankfully, a week later he shared a snap of himself holding his daughter.

Victoria Beckham and Nicola Peltz's 'feud'

Nicola has said that nobody writes about "the nice things"

When Brooklyn Beckham married billionaire's daughter Nicola Peltz in April 2022, all eyes were on the young couple and their lavish celebration. However, soon the apparent feud between actress Nicola and her mother-in-law Victoria was to take centre stage. The falling out, which both parties have denied, was rumoured to have happened because Nicola did not wear Victoria's design for her wedding. Speaking to Variety last summer, Nicola said the dress decision came down to logistics. "I've said this so many times: There's no feud. I don’t know. No one ever wants to write the nice things," she said. Although Nicola was notably absent from photos with her parents-in-law for months, the rumoured feud seems to have been smoothed over, and earlier this month both Brooklyn and Nicola were seen supporting VB's fashion show in Paris.

David Beckham's 'frozen out' nephew

Freddie Every is David Beckham's newphew (Steve Bainbridge / Triangle News)

Not all of the Beckham family members are living in luxury despite the family's estimated £1 billion fortune. Back in 2018 David's nephew Freddie Every did an interview with the Mirror explaining that he only had £1.36 in his bank account.
The youngster, then 17, revealed he was living with his father, who had split with David's sister Lynne and hadn't seen his famous aunt, uncle or cousins in years.
"I just want to be able to go for a meal and talk and catch up. I’m not asking for more than that. They are still my family and I'd like to see them again," he said at the time. "Growing up we saw them loads and I have so many happy memories of playing at their house, doing Easter egg hunts and playing on quad bikes. Then suddenly it all stopped and I am on the outside looking in, only seeing them live their lives on Instagram or on the TV."

David Beckham and dad Ted's fall-out

David, his dad Ted Beckham and son Romeo

David was always supported by his father Ted growing up, but their relationship broke down in 2002 when his marriage to the footballer's mum Sandra ended. The year before, in his autobiography 'Beckham: My World,' the star said this about his father: "He loves my mum but he's never been affectionate to her in front of my two sisters and me. He's quite hard-faced and can be sarcastic. He also gets fired up easily... The quality I like least in myself is my short temper. I think I get it from my dad."

Ted learned of the football star's transfer to Real Madrid in 2003 from David's agent, and he said the news hit him "like a sledgehammer". Ted then publicly accused Man U manager Sir Alex Ferguson of "betrayal," which led an angry David to ban his dad from the contracting signing. At the 2006 World Cup, David sent his dad tickets but did not want to meet with him. However in 2007, Ted suffered a near-fatal heart attack. This caused an instant reconciliation between the two as David flew back from LA to be at his father's side.

Lydia Veljanovski