Beckham vs Peltz Beckham: Could Brooklyn torpedo the family brand?

Sir David and Lady Beckham's son Brooklyn has accused them of putting "Brand Beckham" first as they built up their global image and business empire. His bombshell statement threatens to derail both their public reputation and their private life.

"We've tried to give our children the most normal upbringing as possible," David said in his 2023 Netflix documentary, as Brooklyn was shown checking up on his cooking.

"But you've got a dad that was England captain and a mum that was Posh Spice."

David went on to say how proud he was, and "so in awe of my children and the way they've turned out" - making the point that his family had withstood the pressures of fame.

In hindsight, the clip feels more like a warning about how difficult that is.

And while David's sentiments were surely genuine, viewers might also question how much has been said and done for the benefit of the cameras.

That documentary, and the subsequent series about Victoria, were both made by the Beckhams' own production company, meaning they were ultimately in control of what story was being told.

That's part of a strategy that has seen them remain famously protective of their public image as they have grown their global fame and an empire worth an estimated £500m.

As well as being perhaps the ultimate celebrity power couple, Victoria has built a career as a fashion designer, and David has business interests ranging from clothing to health supplements.

The brand got perhaps the ultimate accolade when David was knighted by the King last year.

"They are the non-royal royal family of our celebrity culture, and people have been invested in them and their dynastic branding for the last 25 years or more," says entertainment journalist Caroline Frost.

But their documentaries, social feeds and interviews reveal a carefully curated version of their family life.

And they stay firmly on message whenever the Beckhams are riding out any scandals and storms, of which there have been a few - from his alleged affairs, to embarrassing leaked emails about not being knighted sooner, to controversy about his role as an ambassador for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The biggest threat to the Beckhams' family brand could now come from their eldest child, whose explosive post "has ruptured it from within", Frost told BBC Radio 5 Live.

After months of rumours about a rift, 26-year-old Brooklyn Peltz Beckham claimed his family "values public promotion and endorsements above all else", and that brand protection went too far.

"Brand Beckham comes first," he wrote. "Family 'love' is decided by how much you post on social media, or how quickly you drop everything to show up and pose for a family photo opp, even if it's at the expense of our professional obligations."

He also posted: "For my entire life, my parents have controlled narratives in the press about our family. The performative social media posts, family events and inauthentic relationships have been a fixture of the life I was born into."

David and Victoria haven't directly responded to Brooklyn's public grievances.

The Beckhams have been "incredibly talented at controlling their own narrative publicly", and the brand has strong foundations, according to celebrity crisis PR Lauren Beeching.

"The Beckham name operates as commercial architecture, not just a surname at this point, and I would say that architecture is extremely strong.

"The Beckhams have decades of goodwill, global recognition and a fan base that spans generations, and also their recent Netflix documentaries were massive global hits and reinforced that stable, emotionally controlled, likeable image of a family."

However, the rift with Brooklyn will cause pain both personally and professionally, Beeching believes.

"The Beckhams are very protective of their brand, so this will be incredibly stressful for them because it goes against everything they're trying to stand for, which is basically a united family front."

Over the past 30 years, the Beckhams have navigated a media landscape that has morphed from a tabloid feeding frenzy into a social media free-for-all, so the instinct to protect their image is perhaps understandable.

But some believe they are reaping the consequences of putting their family in the limelight to benefit the brand.

The Guardian's Marina Hyde said Brooklyn had been "commodified" since before he was born, with his parents selling pictures and stories from as early as Victoria's pregnancy.

But, Hyde added, his parents refined their media strategy as he grew older. "As time went on, David and Victoria acquired more sophisticated advisers who understood the rapidly morphing potential of controlling image and brand, and built a vast and diversified empire for them off the back of it."

Others, however, suggest Brooklyn is spoiled, has taken advantage of the family name himself, and shouldn't post on social media about his desire for privacy.

Tom Bower, author of 2024 biography The House of Beckham, sympathises with Brooklyn and isn't persuaded by the image his parents project.

"The Beckhams are a phoney family," he told 5 Live. "It's a family for a brand, and it's been very successful...

"And the truth is, they're not a happy family. They are a commercial product, which has earned them a fortune, but the victims have been their children."

However, journalist Hadley Freeman, ghostwriter of Victoria Beckham's 2006 biography, says in her experience they were "both incredibly sweet, incredibly involved with their children, very loving as a family".

"At the same time, there is this problem with some famous people, which is that they are addicted to their fame, and they are addicted to how people see them," she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"It's not hard to imagine what it's like to be a relative within that situation and to feel maybe a little exploited at times, and to see the disparity between what is put on social media and the reality."