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The Beckhams’ soap opera comes to a teary but joyous end

Victoria Beckham posted this photo on Instagram showing Brooklyn Beckham, Nicola Peltz Beckham, Romeo Beckham, Edward Enninful, Harper Seven Beckham, David Beckham and Anna Wintour
Victoria Beckham posted this photo on Instagram showing Brooklyn Beckham, Nicola Peltz Beckham, Romeo Beckham, Edward Enninful, Harper Seven Beckham, David Beckham and Anna Wintour

The soap opera known as The Beckhams reached its finale on Friday night. And at, of all places, Paris Fashion Week, the World Cup if you like of designer clothing, where Victoria Beckham was showing her collection for the first time ever. No wonder after such a tumultuous few weeks, Victoria, 48, broke down in tears.

The team photo posted on Instagram by Victoria showed a smiling bench. After weeks of speculation of a rift in Britain’s most famous non-royal family, Victoria released a happy families picture with the source of the ruckus - Brooklyn Beckham and his new bride Nicola on the left - and father David on the right with the large presence of Edward Enninful, the editor-in-chief of British Vogue playing the part of the referee in the middle.

Making up the squad are Romeo Beckham, his little sister Harper Seven, and Anna Wintour, the editor-in-chief of Vogue and the grande dame of fashion, on the flank. Pundits will analyse the photograph for days over the team’s formation amid questions over whether Brooklyn is playing his role too far from his father.

For those who haven’t been following closely the ups and downs of the Beckham family drama, it goes like this: Brooklyn Beckham, the 23-year-old son of David and Victoria Beckham, married Nicola Peltz, an American actress four years his senior, at a ceremony in Florida in April on the estate owned by her billionaire father.

So far, happy families. Son of Britain’s most famous celebrity couple marries daughter of wealthy billionaire. A match, it would seem, made in Instagram heaven.

David Beckham, Harper Beckham, Cruz Beckham, Tana Holding and Romeo Beckham are seen leaving their hotel in Paris - Pierre Suu/GC Images
David Beckham, Harper Beckham, Cruz Beckham, Tana Holding and Romeo Beckham are seen leaving their hotel in Paris - Pierre Suu/GC Images

But then it gets complicated.

Tabloid newspapers and gossip websites suggested that Victoria Beckham, once a singer in the all-female band the Spice Girls, had fallen out with her daughter-in-law, largely over whether Victoria, now a world-renowned fashion designer, was prepared to make a wedding dress for the soon-to-be Mrs Beckham junior. Or whether the bride was prepared to wear one.

At this point readers should take a deep breath. Because earlier this week, Grazia magazine published an interview with Nicola Peltz Beckham in which she said she had been “planning on wearing Victoria’s wedding dress” after all and that she was “truly so excited to be able to wear a design that my future mother-in-law created”.

Then she claimed “a few days went by” without a word from Victoria and finally a message came through that the atelier “couldn’t make it”. In modern parlance, gossip sites accused Victoria of “blanking” or “ghosting” her daughter-in-law.

The Grazia interview sparked claims of a further feud. David Beckham “read the riot act” to his son and ordered an “end to the drama”, according to one showbusiness report.

And so it seems, it came to pass. On Friday night, the soap opera that is the Beckhams enjoyed its happy ending after all.

The Beckhams were reunited on the Paris runway where Brooklyn and Nicola sat in the front row seats alongside David Beckham and the rest of the children Harper Seven, 11, Romeo, 20, and Cruz, 17.

Victoria, formerly the artist known as Posh Spice, wept at the end of the fashion show, overwhelmed with joy and presumably relief. Much like when her husband scored the winner for England against Greece to reach the World Cup finals in Japan with a last-minute free kick 20 years ago.

Nicola and Brooklyn arrived pre-match half an hour early in a public display of support. The crowd might just have roared as Bella and Gigi Hadid, the world’s most famous models, walked down the runway showing off Victoria’s spring summer 2023 collection.

Gigi Hadid walks down the runway showing off Victoria’s spring summer 2023 collection - JULIEN DE ROSA/AFP
Gigi Hadid walks down the runway showing off Victoria’s spring summer 2023 collection - JULIEN DE ROSA/AFP

Afterwards, according to MailOnline, the Beckhams embraced as one and drank cocktails to wipe away memories of past rows. “There were a lot of smiles and a lot of love in the room, it was a lovely family atmosphere,” a source told the website. Such a display of affection was hardly the cliffhanger Beckham soap opera watchers might have been hoping for.

As to the designer collection, Lisa Armstrong, The Telegraph’s head of fashion, said: “In terms of clothes it was going right back to her roots - lots of sexy, bias cut slip dresses - variations of the one she wore to the Miami wedding.”