Ted Beckham appears to be trying to maintain his relationship with grandson Brooklyn as the Beckham family rift continues to deepen, with sources suggesting the 78-year-old is painfully aware of similarities to his own troubled past with son David.
Tensions between David and Brooklyn have been playing out publicly for months, after Brooklyn accused his parents of prioritising “Brand Beckham” over genuine family relationships.
The 27 year old also claimed they had tried to undermine his marriage to American heiress Nicola Peltz.
In a lengthy statement posted on Instagram in January, Brooklyn wrote: “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.”
Sources say Brooklyn has continued to maintain regular contact with his grandparents
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He also alleged his wife had been “consistently disrespected” by members of the Beckham family and claimed he was told Nicola was “not blood” and “not family” on the eve of their wedding.
Despite the estrangement, Brooklyn’s grandfather Ted and his wife Hilary, whom he married in 2021, recently marked the photographer’s 27th birthday with a video montage of photographs featuring themselves alongside Brooklyn and Nicola.
The message, shared on Hilary’s account as she remains one of the few family members not blocked by Brooklyn on social media, read: “Happy birthday @brooklynpeltzbeckham – hope you have a fabulous day. With love from Grandad and Hilary xxx” (sic).
Sources say Brooklyn has continued to maintain regular contact with his grandparents throughout the two-year family fallout, deliberately shielding them from the acrimony.
Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz have torched their ties to the Beckhams | GETTY“Brooklyn has a very soft spot for Ted,” one insider explained.
“Ted has never cared about the A-list Hollywood lifestyle, he doesn’t care about PR spin or magazine covers. He’s just a grandad who loves his boy.”
According to insiders, Ted has been particularly determined to maintain that bond because he recognises troubling similarities between the current situation and his own fractured relationship with David in the early 2000s.
An insider told The Sun that Ted cannot help but observe the tensions between father and son with a sense of déjà vu.
Brooklyn and Nicola with Sandra Beckham
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“You could hardly blame Ted for looking at David and Brooklyn right now and seeing an absolute mirror image of his own mistakes,” the source said.
“He knows the agony of being shut out of a son’s life. He remembers the years he lost with David, the birthdays missed, the Christmases spent in stony silence.”
The source added that observers believe both David and Brooklyn are squandering precious time together through “stubborn pride”, with Ted determined to keep his own connection with his eldest grandchild intact.
Ted and David’s own relationship fractured dramatically in the early 2000s following the divorce of Ted and David’s mother Sandra in 2002 after 33 years of marriage.
David sided with his mother during the split, and the rift widened further when Ted published an unauthorised biography, David Beckham: My Son, in 2005, leaving the footballer feeling deeply betrayed.
Speaking in 2003 after being excluded from watching his son sign for a new club, Ted said: “I don’t know if I can repair my relationship with him. Nobody wants to see history repeating itself.”
He continued: “It shouldn’t take a tragedy or a hospital dash to force a family to make peace.”
The pair went years barely exchanging words until Ted suffered a near-fatal heart attack in 2007 aged 58, with paramedics battling for three hours to save him.
The Beckham family before the feud | PA
David flew home immediately from LA Galaxy to be at his father’s bedside, and the health scare prompted both men to finally reconcile.
Meanwhile, David and Ted appeared to show unity this week when they attended Cruz Beckham’s performance with his band The Breakers at The Deaf Institute in Manchester.
Former Manchester United player Nicky Butt shared a photograph of himself alongside David, Ted and Cruz after the show, writing: “Amazing performance tonight @cruzbeckham. And you are definitely a Manc.”
Cruz later shared footage from the gig showing him playing guitar and singing to a packed venue, including a clip capturing David watching proudly from a balcony.
The performance came just hours after Cruz posted a poignant birthday message to his older brother Brooklyn, sharing a childhood photograph of Brooklyn cradling him as a baby with the caption: “I love you.”
