We have seen two fathers – David Beckham and King Charles – struggle with their sons’ actions this past week but psychotherapist Lucy Beresford says their offspring may be dealing with a familiar problem
09:30, 06 May 2025Updated 10:46, 06 May 2025
Palace sources say ‘nothing will distract’ King Charles from VE Day celebrations, amid Prince Harry’s bombshell interview(Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
It is the father-son rift that ruined David Beckham’s 50th birthday celebrations. Son Brooklyn, 26, and wife Nicola Peltz, 30, weren’t at the former England captain’s lavish dinner at Notting Hill’s Core restaurant on Saturday night.
And their missing status made a photograph that David posted on his Instagram page that day, showing the doting father with his first-born aged seven, with the caption ‘@brooklynbeckham I love you’, all the more poignant. Brooklyn, on the other hand, didn’t even wish his dad a happy birthday on social media, and didn’t show up at any of his birthday events at the weekend.
But David isn’t the only well-known dad who has a rocky relationship with one of his sons – as we were reminded just a day earlier when Harry claimed his dad King Charles “won’t speak to me”, while also declaring he would love reconciliation.
So why is it that so many famous fathers and sons struggle to share the spotlight? Here we look at some of the biggest celebrity father and son feuds, with the help of psychotherapist Lucy Beresford..
READ MORE: Brooklyn Beckham’s family brutal social media snub after birthday party absenceDavid and Brooklyn Beckham
David is reportedly ‘devastated’ that Brooklyn wasn’t at his special birthday (Image: Getty Images)
Like most football mad youngsters Brooklyn has hero worshipped dad David. His first ever tattoo, eight years ago, was dedicated to Becks, and the aspiring chef excitedly launched his Cloud 23 condiment range – a nod to Becks’ Real Madrid shirt number.
In turn David has a Buster tattoo – his nickname for Brooklyn – inked on his neck with a heart. He spoke lovingly in the 2023 Netflix documentary Beckham – of wanting to protect Brooklyn from paparazzi intrusion following his alleged affair with Rebecca Loos in 2004.
And there’s countless interviews over the years where Becks has defended his eldest against criticisms of him growing up as the ultimate nepo baby. In a 2016 GQ interview, when Brooklyn, then 16, was pursuing a photography career, proud dad Becks said: “We know he’s going to make his mistakes—and we know he’ll have opportunities because of us,” he says.
“But he’s making opportunities for himself, too. So far, we’ve been very lucky that he’s found a passion. Whether people believe it or not, he’s got talent. He’s got a great eye—and proven that in the images he’s taken.”
Fast forward almost a decade and Brooklyn’s photography passion appears to be no more and neither sadly does the once unbreakable Father and son bond. As Becks celebrated his 50th birthday, Brooklyn and his wife Nicola were nowhere to be seen.
There have been well-documented past tensions between Nicola and Brooklyn’s mum Posh, with the former Spice Girl pulling out of designing her future daughter-in-law’s wedding dress in 2022. But where has this father and son spar come from?
Lucy says she is also surprised but adds: “Brooklyn is the eldest of the Beckham children. However, at 26, Brooklyn still hasn’t found his niche, his identity away from his family and famous parents.
“Typically, the first born in a family pushes away from the family, to plough their own furrow. Maybe Brooklyn feels the only way he can carve out an identity beyond being the son of two famous people, is to put a lot of distance between him and the family. “
King Charles and Prince Harry
King Charles and Prince Harry at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
At a time when we thought there was nothing more Prince Harry could say against his family, the Duke of Sussex caused new shockwaves in a BBC interview – raising more grievances about his treatment after stepping down as a working Royal.
After losing his Court of Appeal challenge over the level of security he receives while visiting the UK from his luxury Montecito home, Prince Harry told the BBC he felt once again “let down” and blamed the Royal Household for influencing the decision to reduce his security.
After the Duke of Sussex stepped down as a working royal in 2020 – and his security was automatically downgraded. He said some people “want history to repeat itself by denying him a higher level of security and how his father “won’t talk to him” due to the security grievances.
Prince Harry added his “jaw hit the floor” when he learned a representative of the Royal Household sits on the Ravec committee which authorises security for senior royals on behalf of the Home Office. Despite all this, Harry added that he hoped for a reconciliation and that he didn’t “know how much longer” his father has left.
Harry has reportedly only seen his father once since news of the king’s illness. Just hours after the shock announcement was made to the world in February 2024 – Harry got on a plane to rush to see the King – showing his deep love and devotion for his ‘Pa’.
But the fallout from his 2023 memoir Spare and TV interviews remains. As Harry himself acknowledges some members of the Royal Family will never forgive him for writing it.
Psychotherapist Lucy believes little will change as Harry continues to position himself in “victim mode.” And a clue to his burning resentment is in the name of his book.
“Psychologically, as Freud identified, sons need to feel that they will eventually triumph over their fathers. In this particular family, that is actually going to happen. When King Charles dies, Prince William will literally take his job.
“But that’s never going to be available for Prince Harry. That opportunity to fulfil that kind of psychological destiny will never be available to him. And that, of course, is no one’s fault. But that is the thing – being the spare – that could be fueling some of this resentment unconsciously.
Prince Harry sat down with the BBC in a shocking interview and said the King would not talk to him(Image: BBC)
“He makes some comments about ‘the establishment’ which were on this particular committee that decides who gets security. So Prince Harry is making an assumption that King Charles could do something about that. I do not know whether that is true or not. But In his mind, he feels aggrieved. “
Also Lucy points to the fact that this BBC interview differs from others he has done. There is no financial incentive or aim to further the Harry and Meghan brand commercially.
She explains: “There is an element of him not wanting to be forgotten, the irony is that he is the one who took himself away, moving to America, so with this interview for the BBC, it’s more about trying to remind people he still exists.
“It’s like he is saying ‘don’t forget me!'” According to Lucy, the interview demonstrates Prince Harry’s inner child has hijacked his adult brain in regards to his security concerns – that “history will repeat itself” – that what happened to his mother Princess Diana – could happen to him and his family.
“If it has already happened in your family. There is an argument that it might happen. But as a grown up, you could probably make your own choices so that it doesn’t happen again.
“But his inner child is so strong that it’s almost like it’s hijacked his adult brain to say, ‘no this would definitely happen if I don’t get the security that I that I long for, then really bad things will happen.'”
Ultimately Lucy believes that although the feelings of grievances and resentment towards the Royal Family is real – the desire to reconcile with his estranged father may not be.
“I don’t honestly think we can say he wants a relationship with his father because his book suggests someone who is very happy to burn a lot of bridges,” says Lucy.
Jeff and Freddy Brazier
Ever since Jade Goody’s tragic death in 2009 her ex-boyfriend Jeff Brazier has devoted himself to raising their sons, Bobby and Freddy, to the best of his ability.
He managed to shield his boys from the glare of life in the spotlight all the while making a living on TV as a Sky Sports presenter.
Jeff Brazier competing in Race Across The World with son Freddy(Image: BBC)
But the protective father’s relationship with his youngest Freddy has been strained at times. Jeff recently began legal proceedings to prevent Freddy, 20 from seeing his nan, Jackiey Budden, due to fears she’s a bad influence on him.
Amid reports of father-son rows, Freddy, 20, been known to stay at Jackiey’s Bermondsey flat when things aren’t going well between them and has even filmed himself taking drugs there.
One of the reasons Jeff signed up to BBC’s Race Across The World, which he took part in last year with Freddy, was to reconnect with his son.
Ahead of the reality show, which saw the duo travel from Belém, Brazil to Frutillar, Chile, without the use of mobile phones, he said: “D’you know what I’m most looking forward to about this trip is that I feel like I’m about to learn a lot more about my son.
“I feel like at some point he’s going to move out and I’ll lose him. So, I guess I’m just trying to squeeze every last bit out of him that I can.”
But there is still a lot of love between them. On Mother’s Day this year, Freddy posted pictures of Jade, but then posted a new photo of him and his dad with their arms around each other, adding: “Forever grateful for you and all you do for me.”
Chris Eubank Sr and Jr
Former boxing champ Chris Eubanks Jr played a significant role in his son’s boxing career at the start, training, managing and often stealing the spotlight. But cracks began to show in 2019, when Chris Eubank Jr decided it was time to step out of his father’s towering shadow.
Tensions between them reached a fever pitch when Eubank Jr pushed for autonomy, choosing new trainers, and the split was then worsened by the 2021 death of Eubank Jr’s brother, Sebastian.
Chris Eubank Sr with his son Chris Eubank Jr
Eubank Sr. publicly criticised his son’s choices, even referring to him as a “disgrace” for agreeing to a fight with Conor Benn under conditions he deemed dangerous.
In the run up to Eubank Jr’s grudge match against Conor Benn last month his father made it clear he would not be in his son’s corner, calling the fight a ‘circus’ and criticising his behaviour in a press conference when Eubank Jr smashed an egg in Benn’s face.
“Junior, you are smashing an egg against this guy’s face… I taught you that? I didn’t teach you that… That is disgraceful. I would never have been in your corner; that is a disgrace,” he said.
But in an emotional moment he made a surprise appearance at his son’s fight at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, after visiting him at his hotel. He later accompanied his son in the ambulance for the routine hospital check-up following the match.
It was a turning point in their relationship, with Eubank Jr calling their reunion “a moment of a lifetime”.
Bing Crosby and sons
Father-son feuds aren’t reserved for modern days, either. Bing Crosby, one of the most iconic entertainers of the 20th century, had a notably complex and often rocky relationship with his sons from his first marriage to Dixie Lee – Gary, Phillip, Dennis, and Lindsay Crosby.
While Crosby cultivated a charming and easygoing persona in public, his sons later described their upbringing as harsh and emotionally fraught.
Gary Crosby, in particular, shed light on their troubled family dynamic in his explosive 1983 memoir Going My Own Way, published after Bing died in 1977.
He alleged that Bing was a strict and emotionally distant father who disciplined his children with what Gary described as excessive physical punishment, claims which stirred controversy at the time.
The Crosby sons also struggled with personal issues as adults, including alcoholism and depression. Two of them – Lindsay and Dennis – tragically died by suicide, with claims that their childhood experiences contributed to their struggles.
But sons Phillip and Harry both contested Gary’s claims. Phillip told People magazine that any physical discipline they received from their father was merited, while Gary told the Daily Express: “I only know my own experience with my dad which was one of love, support, friendship and respect,” he said.
“We went fishing together and golfing and he was able to impart on us not just that we were loved but also the rules of the road – the way to behave.”