{"id":254026,"date":"2026-01-23T18:44:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T18:44:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/254026\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T18:44:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T18:44:09","slug":"will-the-beckhams-reconcile-with-their-estranged-son-brooklyn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/254026\/","title":{"rendered":"Will the Beckhams Reconcile With Their Estranged Son, Brooklyn?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The rift between British power couple Victoria and David Beckham and their son Brooklyn Beckham seems to be growing greater every day, with Brooklyn alleging on Instagram that his famous parents tried \u201cendlessly to ruin\u201d<\/a> his relationship with new wife Nicola Peltz.<\/p>\n

In declaring that he does not wish to be reconciled with his parents, Brooklyn made his family one of the most visible examples yet of the growing phenomenon of estrangement between adult children and their parents.<\/p>\n

About one in eight relationships between adult children and parents over the age of 55 is estranged, said Keli Rugenstein, a marriage and family counselor who runs Parents of Estranged Adult Kids<\/a>, PEAK, a recovery support group for estranged parents.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s in the millions,\u201d she said, adding that estranged parents frequently blame a third party, such as a spouse, in what is called \u201ca leveraged estrangement.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Portrait07\/25\/22- Boston, MA \u2013 Northeastern teaching professor Kristen Lee poses for a portrait in ISEC on Monday, July 25, 2022. Lee recently published her newest book, Worth the Risk: How to Microdose Bravery to Grow Resilience, Connect more and Offer Yourself to the World. Photo by Alyssa Stone\/Northeastern University<\/p>\n

\"\"Laurie Kramer, professor of applied psychology and director of the university honors program at Northeastern. Photo by Alyssa Stone\/Northeastern University
\nKristen Lee and Laurie Kramer say cases of parental estrangement from adult children are not abut celebrities. Photos by Alyssa Stone\/Northeastern University<\/p>\n

Support groups for estranged children like Breakaway <\/a>cite a number of reasons for estrangements, including everything from physical and sexual abuse and homophobia to parents playing favorites, being unable to apologize, exercising financial control and disapproving of an adult child\u2019s relationship.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re hearing more cases about it in social media and popular media,\u201d said Laurie Kramer<\/a>, a Northeastern University professor of applied psychology. She said there\u2019s more acceptance of people seeking an \u201cout\u201d when they are really unhappy or feel that relationships are hurting them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey feel there\u2019s no hope to have a really meaningful conversation in which the parents are able to listen and absorb and hear and accept what they are being told,\u201d Kramer said.<\/p>\n

In the case of celebrity families, she said adult children may feel their famous parents used them for publicity purposes, posting about family events not to share joy but to promote careers.<\/p>\n

That is the case with Brooklyn Beckham, who on his now viral Instagram post<\/a> says his parents used him to publicize their family and that his mother, a fashion designer and singer who went by Posh Spice, canceled making Peltz\u2019s wedding dress at \u201cthe eleventh hour\u201d and hijacked his first wedding dance with his new bride.<\/p>\n

The fact that the Beckhams are wealthy and appeared, to outside eyes, to give their children everything they need is no surprise to Rugenstein, who said most members of the support groups she runs range from upper middle to upper class.<\/p>\n

The estranged children \u201care the kids that have everything. Horseback riding lessons. Disney World every year,\u201d said Rugenstein, who also counsels young adults in her private practice.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She said her clients do not identify as abusers, although some admit to substance use that kept them from fully participating in family life. Outside of differences in political or religious views, parents who are estranged from their children often say they are confused by what caused the rift, Rugenstein said.<\/p>\n

The adult children respond by saying, \u201cIf you don\u2019t know what you did, I\u2019m not going to tell you,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Kristen Lee<\/a>, a Northeastern teaching professor in behavioral science and author of \u201cClean Slate: How to Make Change Happen,\u201d says rigidity or an extreme approach can help destroy relationships that could benefit from mending or healing, not outright elimination.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like cancel culture,\u201d she said. Looking at relationships, including that of parent and child, through a hopeful, strength-based lens can restore bonds if both parties participate, said Lee, who is writing a book about restoring relationships called \u201cBetter Off With You.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Adult children and parents could agree to talk about things they have in common, rather than let tensions escalate, she said. \u201cYou can say, \u2018We tend to fight a lot about politics, but we enjoy taking walks together or we like a good pizza.\u2019 Look at other points of agreement or positivity. Can those be nourished?\u201d<\/p>\n

Lee said she doesn\u2019t like family members to go too long without contact because it\u2019s harder to re-engage after months of estrangement.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a pattern in estranged families in which adult children cut off contact for months, reconcile, then go no contact for a longer period of time, until it\u2019s a complete cutoff, Rugenstein said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis dance is very, very common,\u201d she said, adding that when people are estranged for more than a year, the reconciliation rate is low.<\/p>\n

However, some statistics favor reconciliation. A 2023 study of parent and child estrangement in the Journal of Marriage and Family reported that 81% of adult children reconciled with their mother and 69% with their father.<\/p>\n

What these statistics mean for the Beckhams, who certainly have the funds to afford top-flight family therapy, remains to be seen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The rift between British power couple Victoria and David Beckham and their son Brooklyn Beckham seems to be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":254027,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[727,146,2046,85,46,134974,112318],"class_list":["post-254026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-celebrity","tag-entertainment","tag-families","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-kristen-lee","tag-laurie-kramer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254026","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254026"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254026\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254027"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}