[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text module_class=”custom-post-title” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_font=”Black Han Sans|700||on|||||” header_text_align=”center” header_font_size=”46px” header_letter_spacing=”4px” custom_margin=”25px||5px||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||0px||true|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
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[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”credit-name” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Black Han Sans|||on|||||” text_text_color=”#000000″ header_4_font=”|||on|||||” header_4_text_align=”center” text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
Words by Polly Dunbar<\/strong><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/07\/image002gjhdh.jpg” alt=”Jennifer Aniston” title_text=”David Beckham and Victoria Beckham” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” min_height=”107px” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n In 1999, Prince Edward married Sophie Rhys-Jones at Windsor Castle, but it was a relatively modest affair compared to that year\u2019s real royal wedding: the union of David and Victoria Beckham at 15th century Luttrellstown Castle in Dublin.<\/p>\n Posh\u2019n\u2019Becks\u2019 big day, on July 4, had it all: a Robin Hood theme, a Vera Wang dress with a 20ft veil, matching purple outfits for the reception (about which David later groaned, \u2018What was I thinking?\u2019), a cake topped with a nearly-nude sculpture of the couple and, of course, those unforgettable red and gold thrones.<\/p>\n 25 years later, those two young stars at the peak of their thrilling early fame could have ended up divorced and remarried twice over by now. And yet, last week, they celebrated their milestone anniversary as any self-respecting multi-millionaire should, on a yacht in Sardinia. On their wedding day, however, Imageall those years ago, the Spice Girl and hero Manchester Utd footballer were 24 years old, new parents to Brooklyn and the biggest celebrities in Britain. Their adoration for one another was obvious, yet few would have bet on them surviving to celebrate their silver wedding anniversary, let alone becoming the country\u2019s ultimate power couple, with a combined fortune of \u00a3455 million.<\/p>\n \u2018As a brand, they\u2019re as ubiquitous as Heinz baked beans or HP sauce,\u2019 says brand and culture expert Nick Ede. \u2018They\u2019re a fundamental part of British culture. They\u2019ve both achieved a lot professionally, but ultimately, they\u2019re as successful as they are because we like them.\u2019<\/p>\n The path to national treasure status is rarely smooth. From the moment Victoria was spied leaving David\u2019s house, dressed in her all-black Posh uniform of tight skirt, little cardi and big sunglasses, in 1997, weeks after the pair first met in the players\u2019 lounge at Old Trafford, their relationship has been tabloid catnip \u2013 with their lows as well as highs played out publicly.<\/p>\n There was a bidding war for exclusive rights to cover their wedding, with OK! winning after coughing up \u00a31 million. Martin Townsend, the magazine\u2019s editor, later confessed the offer was based on rumours of a big money offer by The Sun, which proved not to be true. Alan Edwards, the Spice Girls\u2019 publicist, \u2018nearly fell off his seat\u2019 when he heard the astronomical sum. It was worth it, though: in what Townsend called \u2018the golden age of celebrity\u2019, the issue sold 1.7 million copies.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”custom-quote” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_font=”Libre Bodoni|||on|||||” header_2_text_align=”center” header_2_text_color=”#333333″ header_2_font_size=”40px” header_2_line_height=”1.2em” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”|||0px||” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n The day itself was, in the words of former Sun showbiz editor Dominic Mohan, \u2018an absolute bunfight\u2019, with all the helicopters flying overhead, filled with the press trying to get shots of the wedding, like \u2018something from the film Good Morning, Vietnam.\u2019 236 security guards were hired to try to keep control of the hoardes of fans.<\/p>\n All that wealth and glamour made the Beckhams an obvious target for tall poppy syndrome, that very British penchant for building up celebrities just to knock them down. An early sign that any hint of deviation from squeaky clean would be punished came when David was sent off for kicking Argentinian player Diego Simeone during a World Cup match in 1998; supporters back home were filmed burning effigies of Beckham. Victoria was mocked relentlessly as she tried to launch her solo career, for everything from her singing abilities to a lip ring which turned out to be fake.<\/p>\n By far the couple\u2019s biggest crisis came in 2004, when Rebecca Loos, David\u2019s personal assistant at Real Madrid, claimed she\u2019d had an affair with him the previous year. In last year\u2019s Netflix documentary Beckham, Victoria admitted: \u2018It felt like the world was against us. And here\u2019s the thing \u2013 we were against each other, if I\u2019m being completely honest\u2026 I can\u2019t even begin to tell you how hard it was and how it affected me.\u2019<\/p>\n They battled through and against the odds, Brand Beckham continued to grow. At 50, Victoria\u2019s fashion empire has experienced hiccups but is now flourishing, with her makeup range in particular proving phenomenally successful: one of her iconic jewel-coloured Satin Kajal eyeliners is sold every 30 seconds. David\u2019s commercial interests include co-owning Inter-Miami football club and his longstanding deal with Adidas.<\/p>\n So how have they done it? \u2018They\u2019re very family orientated and they\u2019ve taken us with them on their family\u2019s journey, from the wedding deal with OK! onwards,\u2019 says Ede.<\/p>\n The Netflix documentary, and subsequent Super Bowl advert, in which David teased Victoria, telling her to \u2018be honest\u2019 when she insisted their families were \u2018very working class\u2019 despite her dad picking her up from school in a Rolls Royce, was a masterstroke \u2013 as is the couple\u2019s strategy of using social media to give the public intimate glimpses of their lives, such as Victoria posting a picture of David doing a topless workout, with the cheeky caption, \u2018You\u2019re welcome!\u2019 They\u2019re incredibly famous, yet we feel like we know them.<\/p>\n \u2018Everything they\u2019ve done has had an element of tongue-in-cheek, even the thrones, and the documentary showed they have a great sense of humour,\u2019 says Ede. \u2018In person, Victoria is hilarious, and genuine \u2013 her friendships with women like Eva Longoria are real, and deep. Doing her own videos for her makeup brand is clever, because being herself works for her. And now we\u2019re seeing Brooklyn show that ability to laugh at himself, too, with the advert for Booking.com, where he\u2019s referencing everyone questioning what he does.\u2019<\/p>\n How many people would bet against Brand Beckham still going strong on their golden wedding anniversary in 25 years\u2019 time?<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#111111″ divider_position=”center” divider_weight=”2px” module_class=”custom-divider” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”0px||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text module_class=”credit-texts” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|||on|||||” text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”9px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n Photo: <\/b>Getty<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u2018As a brand, they\u2019re as ubiquitous as Heinz baked beans or HP sauce,\u2019 says brand and culture expert Nick Ede. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":3470,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature"],"acf":[],"modified_by":"kschwarz","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3469"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3469\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3475,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3469\/revisions\/3475"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}‘\u2018It felt like the world was against us. And here\u2019s the thing \u2013 we were against each other…’<\/h2>\n