What David and Victoria Beckham REALLY thought of Brooklyn’s birthday message to little sister Harper: Insiders tell KATIE HIND how they fear he may be using social media to ‘taunt’ his parents

Whenever Brooklyn Beckham brought his wife Nicola Peltz home to visit the family, there would be much excitement.

His adoring parents, David and Victoria, were obviously thrilled to see him but it was Harper, Brooklyn’s beloved little sister, who would be the most delighted by the visitors.

And while she has always been extremely close to her oldest brother, it was actually Nicola whom she couldn’t wait to see. For Harper, who turned 14 on Thursday, didn’t have an older sister – just three brothers – so Nicola filled that void for her.

In return, Nicola, 30, would ‘love bomb’ Harper and share photographs of them together on social media – an act those close to the Beckhams describe as a ‘move that elevated her profile’, knowing the cute pictures would get her ‘more online traffic’.

All that came to an abrupt halt when the rift developed between Brooklyn and his parents, shortly after their lavish £3million wedding at the Florida mansion belonging to Nicola’s father Nelson in April 2022.

Recollections vary, but the dispute seems to have centred around Nicola’s choice of wedding dress (Valentino, not her new mother-in-law’s brand) and claims that Victoria had tried to steal the show with a first dance with her son (denied by Victoria and David).

For Harper, however, the day was a little girl’s dream come true. She was a doting bridesmaid, in a floor-length cotton white dress with navy sash and a cream-rose garland in her hair.

Months later, Nicola gushed about her relationship with Harper in a magazine interview to promote her debut film, Lola, the plot for which pertinently centred around a close sibling relationship.

Harper, Brooklyn’s beloved little sister, turned 14 on Thursday amid the ongoing rift

Brooklyn and Nicola shunned all of David’s 50th birthday celebrations this year

Asked if she’d drawn inspiration for the film from the then 12-year-old, she said: ‘She is my dream little sister.

‘If I could create the perfect dream little sister, it’s her, I’m so blessed I get to have her in my life.’

Yet it wasn’t long before Harper found herself very much out of her sister-in-law’s life, as rumours of a fall-out between the newlyweds and the Beckhams started to gain traction.

When the ‘likes’ between Nicola and Victoria started to dry up on Instagram, the rumour mill started to grind even faster.

The ill feeling was never more so apparent than when Brooklyn and Nicola shunned all of David’s 50th birthday celebrations this year, and also snubbed Harper on two visits to London: once for David’s birthday parties (to which they never showed up) and another three weeks later when they came to the UK for a photoshoot with French-Italian clothing brand, Moncler.

So it is perhaps unsurprising that there were ‘real fears’ that the couple would not get in touch with Harper on her special day – as they had not with David on his 50th, Victoria when she turned 51 in April, or Victoria’s dad Tony at the end of May.

There has been much fury in the Beckham household that Brooklyn and Nicola did not have any communication with Harper, given she is the innocent party and still a little girl. Sources tell me that neither Nicola or Brooklyn have seen or spoken with Harper for ‘a long time now’.

‘It’s heartbreaking to think how upset Harper surely must have got waiting for them to come, and then they didn’t. She might only be young but she is a bright girl who must know what is going on,’ says one insider.

‘Brooklyn probably would have been rationalising not seeing his parents, but the fact that he and Nicola didn’t see Harper – who he has never had a quarrel with – when they have been in London is just mean, In the beginning Nicola constantly posted pictures with Harper and called her little sister and made out it was all so cutesy and lovely.

Brooklyn with his parents David and Victoria at the GQ Men Of The Year Awards in 2019

Harper didn’t have an older sister – just three brothers – so Nicola filled that void for her

‘Nicola must have known that was going to make her look good on Instagram and make sure that those pictures got picked up by websites across the world. It was so obvious, but then they didn’t bother with her any more.

On the surface, there should have been much relief when Brooklyn did in fact post a ‘Happy Birthday’ message to Harper on Instagram which was reposted by Nicola. ‘Happy Birthday Harper we love u x,’ wrote the 26-year-old in the social media platform’s bubble font – and notably written as a ‘we’, driving home the message that they come very much as a cohesive package.

Only sources suggest that far from Brooklyn’s post being an ‘olive branch’ to his parents, as it was claimed, the posting was in fact a way of taunting them further, and ‘Team Beckham’ wrote it off as a ‘PR stunt’.

Yesterday friends of the family told me that Brooklyn has made it clear he wants no contact with his family and that has been the case for ‘months now’.

And any hope of a reconciliation was very much dashed on Friday when both Brooklyn and Nicola ‘unfollowed’ Romeo and Cruz on Instagram. Despite the fall out becoming extremely serious at the end of April as David’s birthday loomed, the younger Beckham brothers had continued to follow Brooklyn.

However, Brooklyn’s team hit back, placing the blame firming back in Romeo and Cruz’s court, insisting that the brothers had actually blocked them.

Some connected with the Beckhams suggest that Romeo, 22, and Cruz, 20, did it to end the speculation that there might be thawing between two sides – after all they have been staunchly loyal to their parents – and as far as they are concerned, relations remain as icy as ever.

The two older Beckham boys, who were once so close as children, have had a tricky relationship for years. Today, Romeo seemed to sum up his feelings in another savage dig at his older brother. Posting a picture of Justin Bieber’s new song, Walking Away, he simply commented… ‘Yup’.

Brooklyn Beckham paid tribute to his sister Harper on her 14th birthday, amid fears he would ignore the festivities due to family tensions 

Their feud is said to stem from Nicola reportedly taking against Romeo’s former girlfriend, the 22-year-old British model, Mia Regan.

Sources claim that in the run up to the wedding, bride-to-be Nicola refused to speak to Mia, and on the day of the nuptials, she ignored her despite Romeo being the best man for his big brother along with Cruz.

Nicola’s behaviour ‘absolutely baffled’ the whole of the Beckham family and enraged Romeo that someone would treat Mia like that.

‘The wedding was the turning point for Romeo, he is a lovely, lovely lad who found it all unnecessary, as you would,’ said one source.

‘He was a major part of the wedding, he was the best man and as his date, Mia was also in the wedding party yet Nicola didn’t want to know. Of course that was something that upset Romeo, but like we are seeing with the fall-out with his parents, Brooklyn also takes Nicola’s side and that has had terrible ramifications for relations with his brother.’

Then, it’s claimed, Brooklyn and Nicola launched a public war against Romeo’s next girlfriend, Kim Turnbull, who they tried to blame for the rift with David and Victoria, saying they felt uncomfortable around her because she used to date Brooklyn.

That was immediately dismissed as untrue. In fact Kim had once briefly dated Brooklyn’s friend Rocco Ritchie – son of Madonna and Guy – while they all attended the Fine Arts College in Belsize Park in North London together. Sources close to the Beckhams furiously accused the couple of using Kim as a scapegoat.

Indeed, it has been a trying time for David and Victoria who several of those in the know say are ‘very good parents.’

In fact, they found themselves having to defend how they raised their oldest son when Nicola’s parents, millionaire entrepreneur Nelson and his wife Claudia, appeared to take a swipe at the Beckhams for being ‘tight with money’.

Nicola and Brooklyn recently moved into a new £11million five-bedroomed home in Beverly Hills – bought with Nicola’s money, gifted to her by her parents, prompting them to accuse David and Victoria of being stingy in not doing the same for their son.

David and Victoria, both self-made grafters, were bemused at the slur: they’d always considered themselves sensible parents for instilling a work ethic in their children.

‘It’s definitely not what David and Victoria want their children to think is right. Nelson throws money at everything so it’s perhaps all very normal for Nicola but for Brooklyn it isn’t.’

Yet what hurt them the most was Brooklyn and Nicola’s repeated ‘no shows’ at David’s birthday celebrations earlier this summer, despite making the trip from the US to London, and giving the impression they would be there.

The couple had already missed a pre-birthday bash at Cipriani restaurant in Miami where the likes of Lionel Messi and Cindy Crawford were on the guest list and didn’t attend a big family party at the Beckhams’ Cotswolds home.

Next they shunned an idyllic trip to France with the whole family: David and Victoria, Romeo and Kim, Cruz and his girlfriend Jackie Apostel and Harper where they visited a vineyard in Bordeaux before heading to Paris for a meal, then it was a big dinner at Notting Hill restaurant, Core where guests included Guy Ritchie, Gordon Ramsay and Tom Cruise.

Cruz Beckham, Brooklyn Beckham, Harper Beckham and Nicola Peltz Beckham at Victoria Beckham’s Ready to Wear Autumn 2024 show in Paris

Brooklyn also missed a ‘boys’ fishing trip’ to the Scottish Highlands with David and his younger brothers Romeo and Cruz. The Beckhams believe that Nicola, who they think is a narcissist, is controlling Brooklyn. Some in the Beckham camp feel so strongly about her influence over David and Victoria’s eldest son that they refer to him as the ‘hostage’.

‘Things are still bad and they are not going to get any better… ever,’ said the source.

Another issue which may have stoked the fire further is the photographs Nicola and Brooklyn used alongside their birthday message to Harper.

Nicola was dressed in a Victoria Beckham ‘tuxedo’ designer trouser suit and the snap taken at one of the fashion designer’s shows in Paris.

Just days earlier, during her holiday with Brooklyn in St Tropez, Nicola was photographed in a pair of England football shorts, similar to those worn by David Beckham back in his Nineties heyday.

Olive branches? Cryptic messages? Poisoned barbs or ill-judged accidents?

Those who’ve been following this story remain as perplexed as ever – including David and Victoria, and presumably Harper.

‘David and Victoria simply don’t know what to make of Nicola and Brooklyn any more,’ said one source. ‘And neither do those around them.

‘It is utterly devastating for them but they have had to accept it now and realise that they are very lucky with their lot.’