NEED TO KNOW
\nThe latest PEOPLE cover dives into the division between the Beckham family and explains what’s really going on behind the scenesSources say David and Victoria are ‘horrified’ by their son Brooklyn’s shocking recent claims, but would still take him back ‘in a minute’Another source says Brooklyn and Nicola are fine without reconciling anytime soon<\/p>\n
In just two months, Brooklyn <\/a>and Nicola Peltz Beckham<\/a> will be marking their fourth wedding anniversary.<\/a>\n<\/p>\n But instead of reflecting on happy memories, the couple are still nursing wounds from a lavish\u2014and dramatic\u2014wedding day that fractured a delicate relationship between the young couple and Brooklyn\u2019s superstar parents, David and Victoria Beckham.<\/a>\n<\/p>\n What began as family drama over perceived slights regarding a wedding dress (Brooklyn claims his mom pulled out of designing his wife\u2019s gown \u201cin the eleventh hour\u201d) and a special dance between the newlyweds (\u201chijacked\u201d by Victoria, says Brooklyn<\/a>) has now turned into a full-blown public battle that has the world wondering: How on earth did things get this bad? And who is actually to blame?\n<\/p>\n The new issue of PEOPLE, which covers the Beckham family feud, will be on stands Friday.<\/p>\n While there\u2019s little Brooklyn and his parents currently see eye to eye on, sources from both sides all agree: There are no winners.\n<\/p>\n Rumors of friction between the couples\u2014who only speak through lawyers now, says a source\u2014first began circulating last May. Still, neither the Beckhams, Brooklyn or Nicola publicly addressed the feud until Jan. 19, when Brooklyn, 26, unleashed a string of scathing Instagram post<\/a>s deriding his parents and blaming them for everything from his lifelong anxiety issues to trying to \u201cruin\u201d his marriage.\n<\/p>\n Mia Regan, Romeo Beckham, Cruz Beckham, Harper Beckham, David Beckham, Victoria Beckham, Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz attend the Netflix ‘Beckham’ UK Premiere.<\/p>\n Karwai Tang\/WireImage<\/p>\n A Brooklyn source says the reason he did so is because he and Nicola, 31, believe that David, 50, and Victoria, 51, are personally behind all the bad press he and his wife have received over the last several years.\n<\/p>\n \u201cThey are so beaten down,\u201d says a Brooklyn source. In his shocking social media post, Brooklyn insisted that he has \u201creceived endless attacks from my parents, both privately and publicly, that were sent to the press on their orders.\u201d (Reps for David and Victoria declined to comment to PEOPLE.)\u00a0\n<\/p>\n In his lengthy note, Brooklyn also slammed the notion that Nicola is controlling him, calling the idea \u201ccompletely\u201d backward.\n<\/p>\n \u201cI have been controlled by my parents for most of my life. I grew up with overwhelming anxiety. For the first time in my life, since stepping away from my family, that anxiety has disappeared,\u201d he wrote, adding, \u201cI do not want to reconcile with my family… I wake up every morning grateful for the life I chose and have found peace.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n Sources tell People that David and Victoria were stunned and saddened by the public rant.\n<\/p>\n \u201cThey are staying quiet because they don\u2019t want to draw more attention to it,\u201d a source says of the pair, who put on a brave face days later on Jan. 24 at the 50th birthday party<\/a> for Emma \u201cBaby Spice\u201d Bunton, Victoria\u2019s former Spice Girls bandmate. Though they\u2019re stinging from their son\u2019s strong words, \u201cDavid and Victoria love Brooklyn and are afraid of losing their son,\u201d insists another insider. \u201cThey would take him back<\/a> in a minute.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n Multiple Brooklyn and Nicola sources say that same invitation does not seem to be extended to Nicola, an actress who grew up in Bedford, N.Y., and Palm Beach, as one of 10 children of billionaire businessman Nelson Peltz, 83, (he shares 8 with Nicola\u2019s mom, Claudia, 70).\n<\/p>\n \u201cThe Beckhams have no intention of reconciling with their son unless Nicola is out of the picture,\u201d says a source familiar with the situation. \u201cBut that\u2019s not an ultimatum he\u2019s going to cave on. Brooklyn has felt more support from his wife in these past three years than from his parents in his entire life.\u201d\n<\/p>\n Nicola Peltz-Beckham with her husband Brooklyn and her parents in December 2025.<\/p>\n Nicola Peltz-Beckham\/Instagram<\/p>\n Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for\u00a0PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter<\/a>\u00a0to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer\u200b\u200b, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n Insiders say the hostility between the Beckhams and their daughter-in-law goes far beyond a dress and ruined dance. \u201cVictoria and Nicola got along in the first few months, but then Victoria started acting like a jealous girlfriend,\u201d a Peltz family source says. \u201cShe seemed so jealous of Nicola.\u201d Not so, counters a Beckham insider: \u201cNicola is the one who is jealous of Victoria. She wants to be famous.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n Tensions came to a head when Nicola and Brooklyn were planning their 2022 nuptials. While Victoria had originally agreed to design Nicola\u2019s dress, the Spice Girl said she was \u201ctoo busy\u201d when Nicola asked about fittings and fabric selections, says a Peltz family source, who adds that Victoria called Nicola\u2019s mom, Claudia, to say she couldn\u2019t make the gown after all.\n<\/p>\n Brooklyn and Nicola’s 2022 British Vogue cover.<\/p>\n Nicola instead wore a custom Valentino design, which she said in a 2022 British Vogue interview took a year of planning.\n<\/p>\n However, another source says she was always meant to wear two dresses. As for the now infamous Marc Anthony-backed dance, so disastrous that a distraught Nicola ran from the room in tears after seeing Victoria dancing \u201cvery inappropriately,\u201d according to her husband? The couple\u2019s wedding deejay, Fat Tony, <\/a>acknowledged on ITV\u2019s This Morning that the moment was indeed \u201creally awkward\u201d for the newlyweds and their guests.\n<\/p>\n \u201cMarc Anthony asked \u2018the most beautifulest woman in the room\u2019 to come to the stage, and he says, \u2018Victoria, come to the stage,\u2019\u201d recalled Tony, adding that Brooklyn was \u201cdevastated.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n Multiple sources say the Beckhams and Peltzes never meshed. \u201cTheir families are so different,\u201d a Peltz source says, who adds that the ultra-wealthy\u2014and private\u2014family can’t relate to the Beckhams\u2019 life of extreme fame.\n<\/p>\n Nicola Peltz & Brooklyn Beckham renewed their vows in Bedford.N.Y. in August 2025.<\/p>\n Nicola Beckham\/Instagram<\/p>\n David and Victoria have long happily lived in the spotlight\u2014David as one of the most successful soccer players of all time, and Victoria, who found mega fame in the \u201890s as a Spice Girl<\/a> before turning to clothing design\u2014and are \u201cvery strategic about everything they do because they are basically a billion-dollar corporation,\u201d the Beckham source says.\n<\/p>\n Adds another insider: \u201cThey have to be strategic and smart about moves they make.\u201d Even now, they have no regrets about how they raised their kids. Says the source: \u201cThey always supported Brooklyn in everything.”\n<\/p>\n But his struggle to find his path may be part of the problem.\n<\/p>\n As a kid, Brooklyn played soccer and showed promise, but when he was dropped by Arsenal\u2019s youth club, he quit the sport altogether at 15, citing pressure and anxiety. He studied photography at an arts high school back in London, and then attended Parsons School of Design in New York for a year. He also dabbled in modeling, cooking, and most recently, launched a hot sauce line.<\/a>\n<\/p>\n David Beckham, then the midfielder for Manchester United, carries his son Brooklyn on his shoulders in 2002.<\/p>\n Phil Noble – PA Images\/PA Images via Getty<\/p>\n