The clock had struck 11pm, the speeches were over – and it was time for the pop star Marc Anthony, a friend of the groom’s parents, to perform at the wedding of the year.
The nuptials of Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz had not been easy: mother-of-the-groom Victoria Beckham – who, along with her husband David, had spent most of the day with their own relatives amid ongoing tensions with her new daughter-in-law’s family – was called to the dancefloor by Brooklyn himself.
The gesture was pre-arranged, I’m told, and the song chosen was Marc Anthony’s 1999 hit I Need To Know. Soon after Brooklyn and Victoria started dancing, David and daughter Harper joined them, followed by Brooklyn’s younger brother Romeo and the latter’s girlfriend Mia Regan.
Yesterday, a well-placed Beckham source told me the scene was ‘a wholesome family moment’ – which of course is a spectacularly different story from that outlined by Brooklyn on Monday night’s jaw-dropping Instagram post.
In that, Brooklyn excoriated his once-beloved mother Victoria, 51, claiming: ‘My mum hijacked my first dance with my wife, which had been planned weeks in advance to a romantic love song.
‘In front of our 500 wedding guests, Marc Anthony called me to the stage, where in the schedule was planned to be my romantic dance with my wife but instead my mum was waiting to dance with me instead.
‘She danced very inappropriately on me in front of everyone. I’ve never felt more uncomfortable or humiliated in my entire life.’
Of course, there are two sides to every story – and, as the late Queen put it, ‘recollections may vary’ when it comes to any family drama.
But there is no doubt that her eldest son’s accusations about the dance will have left Victoria devastated – and angry. Social media users have been mercilessly attacking her.
I’m told that the Beckhams are dumbfounded by their eldest son’s Instagram outburst, writes Katie Hind. Pictured: Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz when they renewed their vows last year – to which his family weren’t invited
Brooklyn’s parents David and Victoria at the wedding, in Palm Beach, Florida, in 2022
Last night, sources told me that Brooklyn’s claims about the dancing were ‘total nonsense’.
‘The truth is that, for some reason, it seemed on the day that neither Nicola nor her parents wanted Brooklyn to dance with his mother,’ says one well-placed figure.
‘It was strange, especially because Nicola danced with her dad [billionaire financier and father-of-the-bride] Nelson. He and David also did speeches. Although the day was very much controlled by the Peltzes, elements of the day were fairly even.’
Another source backs up this claim, saying: ‘Brooklyn and Nicola had their first dance earlier in the evening. There was a band playing and it was all romantic and beautiful. Then it was time for Nicola to dance with her father. After that, there was a disco, and only then did Victoria and Brooklyn dance together. It was hours after the first dance.’
Moreover, this ‘official’ version of the wedding was laid out in fawning coverage in British Vogue magazine in May 2022, soon after the event.
This article, for which Nicola and Brooklyn had secured copy approval (meaning nothing could be published without their consent) featured an exhaustive account of proceedings alongside multiple pictures.
And the Vogue coverage appears to contradict Brooklyn’s new claims about his dance with Posh.
The article states explicitly: ‘Lloyiso, an up-and-coming South African singer, performed Elvis Presley’s Can’t Help Falling In Love for the couple’s first dance.’
Brooklyn and his new bride attend a brunch at her Palm Beach house after the ceremony
Another snap, shared by Brooklyn on Instagram, shows the couple when they later renewed their vows
Insiders tell me that it would be out of the question for there to be any inaccuracies in the feature, especially as it was penned by American fashion writer Derek Blasberg – a trusted friend of the Peltz family.
‘Brooklyn and Nicola had full control of that article,’ says a source. ‘There is no way that there would have been a word in there that they didn’t want. The couple were immensely proud of that piece. So why is Brooklyn now contradicting it? It doesn’t make sense.’
Blasberg continues: ‘At 11pm, the circular stage revolved 180 degrees and Marc Anthony magically appeared for a live set that opened with I Need To Know. Brooklyn invited his mother on stage for a dance and they were joined by David and their ten-year-old daughter, Harper.’
I’m told that the Beckhams are dumbfounded by their eldest son’s Instagram outburst – which has gripped the world. Brooklyn’s extraordinary post has rocked the foundations of Brand Beckham – the lifelong project of David and Victoria that has seen their wealth soar to a staggering £380 million.
This week, the 2022 wedding has been thrust into controversy – amid multiple claims and counter-claims about what really happened.
A number of issues are in dispute – including Nicola’s wedding dress, fraught last-minute conversations by the Beckhams about Brooklyn’s use of their surname for commercial purposes, the status of Romeo Beckham’s girlfriend Mia Regan and more.
Take Nicola’s dress – in the end, a stunning Valentino number.
On Instagram on Monday, Brooklyn wrote: ‘My parents have been trying endlessly to ruin my relationship since before my wedding, and it hasn’t stopped. My mum cancelled making Nicola’s dress in the eleventh hour [sic] despite how excited she was to wear her design, forcing her to urgently find a new dress.’
It is indeed true that Victoria had agreed to make a dress for Nicola. But beyond that – once again – recollections vary.
The account given by the bride’s stylist, Leslie Fremar, to Vogue further appears to contradict Brooklyn’s claims that Nicola was left dressless at the ‘eleventh hour’.
Nicola’s couture Valentino dress. Brooklyn claimed his mother had pulled out of making a dress for her at the ‘eleventh hour’
Victoria shows off her own dress in a picture uploaded to her Instagram story on the day
A 2024 picture of Victoria and Nicola, at a film premiere in Los Angeles, California
In fact, says Leslie, the couture dress created by the late designer Valentino and finally worn by Nicola had been a year in the making, involving several fittings.
Nicola and her mother had travelled to the Valentino headquarters in Rome, where the bride-to-be and her stylist worked closely with the brand’s creative director, Pierpaolo Piccioli.
There were also two Miami-based fittings with the actress, and the head seamstress is said to have flown in especially to ensure the finished result was perfect. But there are two sides to every story.
A source added: ‘Victoria was unable to do it [design the dress], apparently for time reasons, but there was plenty of time for Nicola to get a new one made – and she did. And it was beautiful.’
And then there is Brooklyn’s statement about the use of his ‘name’ for commercial purposes, which he claims relates to his wedding and subsequent marriage.
He reveals: ‘Weeks before our big day, my parents repeatedly pressured and attempted to bribe me into signing away the rights to my name, which would have affected me, my wife, and our future children.
‘They were adamant on me signing before my wedding date because then the terms of the deal would be initiated. My holdout affected the payday, and they have never treated me the same since.’
This is a story that has been kicking around for some years. I have been repeatedly told by sources close to the Beckhams that, far from trying to trick him into giving up the rights to his surname, David and Victoria were anxious for their eldest son – and his younger brother Romeo – not to see this potential revenue stream lost.
Back in 2022, the couple were doing their ‘housekeeping’, I’m told, as David was selling his 55 per cent stake in his brand management company, DB Ventures, to Authentic Brands Group for around $270 million (£200 million).
Brooklyn was asked to sign a contract to protect his rights. Since the family have some commercial partners who enjoy some rights to use the Beckham name, David and Victoria wanted to ensure that the children were carved out of those deals.
However, sources suggest that Brooklyn may have been ‘turned against’ signing the paperwork by those connected to Nicola who, some believe, may have managed to persuade him it was not a good idea.
‘It was all intended to give Brooklyn better protection,’ insists my source. There may have been some wilful manipulation there though, it appears.
Brooklyn and Nicola attend a Burberry fashion show at the Tate in London last year
David and Victoria Beckham at the premiere for her Netflix documentary in London last year
Brooklyn now claims his wedding was so traumatic that it gave him and Nicola bad memories of their special day. He didn’t invite his parents to his vow-renewal service last summer – or tell them that he and Nicola were having the ceremony.
This no-expense spared event took place at another of the Peltzes’ mansions – this time in Westchester, New York – last August. Nelson officiated at the ceremony, while Nicola wore her mother Claudia’s dress from her wedding to Nelson in 1985.
As for the main wedding, which was hosted at Nelson’s sprawling £75million estate in Palm Beach, Florida – and boasted stars such as Eva Longoria, Gordon Ramsay and rapper Snoop Dogg among the guests – friends of the Beckhams tell me that the entire event was dominated by the Peltz clan. Many guests, I hear, were ‘not exactly fond of Nelson’.
I can further reveal that far from Brooklyn and Nicola being left unhappy at their wedding, it was in fact Romeo’s then girlfriend, model Mia Regan, who was made to feel unwelcome.
‘Nicola seemed to have a real problem with Mia,’ says a source close to the family. ‘She just didn’t seem to like or warm to her – and at the wedding it seemed to be very obvious. Mia is a lovely girl and she just got on with it, but it was awful for her.
‘It’s very unfair to suggest that Brooklyn and Nicola were the victims that day.
‘The Beckhams kept themselves to themselves as there were tensions. By then relations between them and Nelson and Claudia had soured somewhat.’
Posh and Becks were further staggered when Nelson allegedly ‘ticked off’ a guest at the bash for using a lavatory in his mansion, rather than one of the portable toilets in the marquees in his grounds. This outburst appears somewhat in keeping with Nelson’s alleged manner.
Six weeks before the event, he had hired wedding planners and sacked them nine days later. They went on to sue him, calling him a ‘bully billionaire’ – a description Peltz himself later told the Financial Times was ‘probably true’. Despite all this, Brooklyn and his father-in-law are now said to be ‘very close’.
All those who know the Beckhams now feel immense sorrow, especially as so much of Brooklyn’s angst is clearly about his wedding day: an event that David and Victoria, as well as the bride and groom, surely wanted to remember fondly for the rest of their lives.
This week, I have spoken to people who have known Brooklyn since he was born. They describe him as a ‘sweet, shy, quiet and polite’ boy, who – they believe – may have been ‘pushed’ to write his post.
‘Brooklyn has never been an angry person,’ says one. ‘This is very out of character for the boy I knew. He was always nice. He was very well-mannered and sweet with his grandparents.’
Certainly, there is sympathy for the photographer-turned-chef. He is the only one of the Beckham children who was propelled into the public domain young.
At just six months old, his image was plastered across the pages of OK! after the glossy magazine paid £1million to buy up the pictures of his parents’ wedding in 1999 – which memorably featured Posh and Becks wearing purple and sitting on golden thrones.
Today, I’m told, David and Victoria feel ‘quite an element of guilt’ over having thrust Brooklyn into the limelight in that way.
So can the family now reconcile? ‘This is a statement that has caused David and Victoria a lot of hurt but it also shows that Brooklyn is hurting, too,’ says an associate of the family. ‘It’s a huge mess – who knows where this will end?’
And it seems, in particular, that Brooklyn and Nicola’s wedding will continue to cast a long shadow over both families for some time to come.
