Victoria and David Beckham make first public appearance together since son Brooklyn’s damning statement as children Cruz, Romeo and Harper turn up to support her as she becomes a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters

David and Victoria Beckham put on a united front as they joined three of their four children in Paris on Monday – the family’s first public appearance since eldest son Brooklyn effectively severed all ties in a bombshell statement.   

Fresh off an unexpected trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Beckham, 50, was hand-in-hand with his wife as they emerged from the five-star La Réserve Paris ahead of an appearance at Haute Couture Fashion Week. 

They were joined, as always, by sons Romeo, Cruz, and daughter Harper ahead of their latest and arguably most significant appearance as a family unit to date. 

They will be present this week as fashion designer Victoria earns her latest accolade by becoming a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters. 

The former Spice Girl, 51, joins a prestigious list of former recipients, among them actresses Zoe Saldaña and Selena Gomez, director Denis Villeneuve and actor Jude Law.  

Bestowed by the French Ministry of Culture, the award recognises the individual contributions of artists, writers, and cultural figures to the arts and literature. 

Opting for a semi-sheer evening gown, the former Spice Girl inevitably commanded attention as the family – accompanied by Cruz and Romeo’s respective girlfriends Jackie Apostel and Kim Turnbull – prepared for their latest night out. 

Little more than a week ago, cooking influencer Brooklyn levelled a series of allegations against his family, while stressing he has no desire to reconnect – opting instead to build a new life with his actress wife Nicola Peltz in the United States. 

Beckham, who is yet to address his son’s allegations publicly, appeared to have other concerns as he led his family to a waiting car ahead of a busy evening in Paris.

The former footballer was followed closely by daughter Harper, 13, who appeared to follow her mother’s colour scheme by opting for an understated black evening dress.  

The addition of Victoria’s name to the Order of Arts and Letters will be the latest significant family event to be snubbed by Brooklyn, whose recent statement confirmed any residual ties with his family have been severed.

The 26-year old old had previously skipped his father’s milestone 50th birthday celebration and the London launch of his mother’s Netflix show. 

Perhaps more significantly, both he and Nicola were absent as Beckham – accompanied by Victoria, his own parents and three remaining children – travelled to Windsor Castle for his long awaited investiture on November 4. 

Arriving in Paris on Monday morning, the retired footballer – dressed casually in a denim jacket and jeans – was warmly greeted as he arrived at his five star hotel.

The family have maintained a stoic silence since Brooklyn released a damning statement in which he outlined his reasons for cutting ties with his family. 

The influencer as far as to say he has been ‘controlled by a family that values public promotion above all else’ and that since being with his wife Nicola, he has found ‘peace and relief’ after battling crippling anxiety.

He wrote: ‘I have been silent for years and made every effort to keep these matters private.

‘Unfortunately, my parents and their team have continued to go to the press, leaving me with no choice but to speak for myself and tell the truth about only some of the lies that have been printed.

‘I do not want to reconcile with my family. I’m not being controlled, I’m standing up for myself for the first time in my life.

‘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.

‘Recently, I have seen with my own eyes the lengths that they’ll go through to place countless lies in the media, mostly at the expense of innocent people, to preserve their own facade. But I believe the truth always comes out.’

He continued: ‘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 despite how excited she was to wear her design, forcing her to urgently find a new dress.

‘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.’  

In a further blow, he added: ‘During the wedding planning, my mum went so far as to call me “evil” because Nicola and I chose to include my Nanny Sandra, and Nicola’s Naunni at our table, because they both didn’t have their husbands.

‘Both of our parents had their own tables equally adjacent to ours.

‘The night before our wedding, members of my family told me that Nicola was “not blood” and “not family”.’

‘Since the moment I started standing up for myself with my family, I’ve received endless attacks from my parents, both privately and publicly, that were sent to the press on their orders.

‘Even my brothers were sent to attack me on social media, before they ultimately blocked me out of nowhere this last summer.

‘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.

‘We wanted to renew our vows so we could create new memories of our wedding day that bring us joy and happiness, not anxiety and embarrassment.

‘My wife has been consistently disrespected by my family, no matter how hard we’ve tried to come together as one.

‘My mum has repeatedly invited women from my past into our lives in ways that were clearly intended to make us both uncomfortable.

‘Despite this, we still travelled to London for my dad’s birthday and were rejected for a week as we waited in our hotel room trying to plan quality time with him.

‘He refused all of our attempts, unless it was at his big birthday party with a hundred guests and cameras at every corner.

‘When he finally agreed to see me, it was under the condition that Nicola wasn’t invited. It was a slap in the face. Later, when my family travelled to LA, they refused to see me at all.

‘My family values public promotion and endorsements above all else. Brand Beckham comes first.

‘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.

‘We’ve gone out of our way for years to show up and support at every fashion show, every party, and every press activity to show ‘our perfect family.

‘But the one time my wife asked for my mum’s support to save displaced dogs during the LA fires, my mum refused.’

‘The narrative that my wife controls me is completely backwards. I 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.

‘I wake up every morning grateful for the life I chose, and have found peace and relief.

‘My wife and I do not want a life shaped by image, press, or manipulation. All we want peace, privacy and happiness for us and our future family.’

Meanwhile, Brooklyn’s explosive claim that his mother pulled out of designing his bride’s wedding dress at the ‘eleventh hour’ is seemingly at odds with an account given by the bride’s stylist at the time.

He claimed Victoria ‘cancelled’ plans to make Nicola’s gown at the last minute, ‘forcing her to urgently find a new dress’.

But in an article published in Vogue four weeks after their April 2022 nuptials Nicola’s stylist Leslie Fremar said the dress was a year in the making.

Nicola also addressed the controversy in a Grazia interview in which she said that after Victoria said her atelier couldn’t make the gown in time, she travelled to Valentino’s headquarters to start the design process.

The actress sported a stunning couture Valentino bridal dress on the big day.

Hollywood stylist Leslie, who is behind the wardrobes of Demi Moore, Julianne Moore and Charlize Theron, took two trips to Valentino’s headquarters in Rome to see the design come to life with the brand’s creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli and his team.

There was then two US fittings with Nicola, with the head seamstresses even journeying to Miami to ensure it was tailored perfectly.

Leslie said: ‘It was the ultimate couture experience. The simplicity of it was magnificent. We didn’t have to overly detail the dress to accomplish the magnitude of it, so we ended up eliminating the embroidery.’

Tensions of a brewing feud began over Nicola’s choice of wedding dress, with rumours at the time claiming it was the actress who refused to wear one of Victoria’s eponymous designs.

She instead opted for various designs from Valentino, Christian Dior and Versace. Nicola later confirmed the rumours had begun after she didn’t wear Victoria’s design.

While she denied there was a ‘feud’, she explained that Victoria’s atelier simply hadn’t had time to make the dress, as she insisted: ‘No family is perfect.’

She told the Sunday Times in 2022: ‘I think it all started, and I’ve said this before, because I didn’t end up wearing Victoria’s wedding dress. But the real truth is I really, really wanted to wear it and I thought it was so beautiful that Brooklyn’s mum got to make that for me.’

But in a different interview that same year, Nicola seemingly hinted at tensions claiming that her mother-in-law blanked her for days after offering to design her wedding dress – before blowing the bride’s plans out of the water and saying her studio couldn’t make the gown.

‘We connected to start designing the dress, and then a few days went by and I didn’t hear anything. Victoria called my mum and said her atelier couldn’t make it,’ Nicola told Grazia USA.

‘I was planning on wearing Victoria’s wedding dress and I was truly so excited to be able to wear a design that my future mother-in-law created. 

‘I thought that was so beautiful and such a beautiful story.’