{"id":402657,"date":"2025-09-06T12:44:34","date_gmt":"2025-09-06T12:44:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/402657\/"},"modified":"2025-09-06T12:44:34","modified_gmt":"2025-09-06T12:44:34","slug":"david-beckham-reportedly-set-to-be-knighted-all-the-times-hes-campaigned-for-the-honour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/402657\/","title":{"rendered":"David Beckham reportedly set to be knighted: all the times he’s campaigned for the honour"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"STYLE\"<\/p>\n

By now, it has become something of a national running joke that David Beckham has had a years-long campaign for his place amongst the knights of the realm. <\/p>\n

According to The Sun, when the list is made public next week, the former Manchester United and England star \u2014 who just celebrated his 50th birthday \u2014 will be officially recognised as a ‘Sir’.<\/p>\n

It means that wife Victoria Beckham will be referred to as Lady Beckham. It has quite the ring to it.<\/p>\n

The honour will come more than 20 years after Beckham, 50, was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2003 in appreciation of his charitable and football achievements.<\/p>\n

Brand Beckham has long been a hyper-public supporter of the monarchy, turning up to a host of royal events and famously queuing for 13 hours to pay his respects after the Queen\u2019s death in 2022. <\/p>\n

And then, in 2013, a series of expletive-filled emails from Beckham were leaked, which slammed the Honours Committee which rejected him, as a bunch of “unappreciative c***s.” <\/p>\n

He was alleged to have complained: \u201cIt\u2019s a disgrace to be honest and if I was American I would of got something like this 10 years ago.\u201d While Beckham dismissed the messages at the time as inaccurate and misleading, to many it seemed as though he had thrown away his shot at what he wanted most: being knighted.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s all the times Beckham has proven he\u2019s worthy of the list.<\/p>\n

\u2018A huge royalist\u2019: queuing for the Queen<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

David Cameron speaking to ITV News as he nears the front of the queue<\/p>\n

ITV News<\/p>\n

According to Beckham, it was his grandparents Joseph and Margaret\u2019s love of the monarchy which inspired him \u201cto be a huge royalist and a fan of the royal family\u201d. A friend of David\u2019s said the entire family had to stand up when the national anthem was played on television.<\/p>\n

In 2003, when Beckham was awarded an OBE, he proudly took his grandparents with him to Buckingham Palace<\/a> to collect the honour. <\/p>\n

He had a particular fondness for the late Queen Elizabeth II. As well as collecting his OBE, in 2018, Beckham was invited to Queen Elizabeth\u2019s Young Leaders event, and has described himself as \u201cso lucky \u2026to have a few moments like that in my life, to be around Her Majesty\u201d. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

England football captain David Beckham stands with his wife, Victoria, as he shows off the OBE he received Thursday November 27, 2003, from Queen Elizabeth II <\/p>\n

PA<\/p>\n

Most famous of all, though, was Beckham\u2019s stoic 13-hour shift in the queue to to pay his respects after the Queen\u2019s death in 2022. \u201cWe have been lucky as a nation to have had someone who has led us the way Her Majesty has led us,\u201d he told reporters at the time. He was seen wiping away tears in front of her coffin at Westminster Hall. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe can all see with the love that has been shown how special she is, and how special she was, and the legacy that she leaves behind,\u201d he said. “It’s a sad day, but it’s a day for us to remember the incredible legacy that she’s left.\u201d He added that wearing \u201cthe Three Lion shirts\u201d and singing God Save The Queen was \u201csomething that meant so much to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018They\u2019re very easy to get along with\u2019: his growing friendship with Wills and Kate<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Beckham with Prince William for the launch of two new ambulance helicopters<\/p>\n

Evening Standard<\/p>\n

Some view Beckham\u2019s growing closeness with Prince William as a potential catalyst for a knighthood. <\/strong><\/p>\n

The Beckhams have been connected to Princes William and Harry for years, and attended both their weddings. \u201cThey\u2019re very easy to get along with. They love their sport. William loves Aston Villa, unfortunately, which obviously I give him a bit of stick about,\u201d Beckham said in a 2012 interview. \u201cI have a huge amount of respect for William and Harry because of what they’ve been through from a very young age. They’re a credit obviously to their mum and everyone in the royal family\u201d. <\/p>\n

In October, Beckham appeared alongside the Prince of Wales, who is patron of the Football Association, at RAF Northolt to unveil two new helicopters for the London Air Ambulance (Beckham had also helped to raise funds for the choppers).<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

With David Beckham at the Royal wedding between Prince William and Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011 <\/p>\n

Getty Images<\/p>\n

The pair were seen greeting each other with easy familiarity. \u201cI\u2019m an East End boy, so every time we saw [the air ambulances] in the air it made us very proud,\u201d Beckham said. \u201cAs soon as I was asked to be involved by Prince William it was something I was very honoured [to do] in all honesty,\u201d he continued, speaking of the decades of \u201cincredible work that the pilots and the medics do\u201d and \u201cthe millions of lives they’ve saved\u201d adding that it was something he was \u201cvery proud to be invited to be part of\u201d. <\/p>\n

The footballer has also helped William with his United for Wildlife campaign, and even flew to Boston in 2022 to attend William\u2019s environmental Earthshot Prize ceremony, at which they were spotted chatting happily. <\/p>\n

In 2020, David took part in a group video call with Prince William and other sports stars for the royal\u2019s mental health Heads Up campaign. That summer, he and his son Romeo joined William in the royal box to watch England vs Germany. Prince William and Princess Kate were even invited to Beckham\u2019s son Brooklyn’s wedding in 2022, though they did not attend. <\/p>\n

A souring relationship with Meghan and Harry<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Beckhams at Prince Harry and Meghan\u2019s wedding in 2018<\/p>\n

PA<\/p>\n

While the Beckhams were close with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, the relationship between the foursome is alleged to have soured since Harry and Meghan parted ways with the royal family. <\/p>\n

The Beckhams attended the pair\u2019s wedding at Windsor Castle <\/a>in 2018, and the two men became close friends when Beckham was invited to be the Invictus Games\u2019 official ambassador, of which The Duke Of Sussex is a founder.<\/p>\n

But rumours of a feud have emerged in the last couple of years, after it was revealed that Meghan allegedly believed that Victoria was responsible for leaking stories about her to the press. <\/p>\n

In 2021 source told The Sun that \u201cwhen Meghan moved to London, Victoria shared a whole bunch of beauty tips, but not long after, some of these emerged in print and Meghan was furious.\u201d<\/p>\n

The accusations were said to have come up during a frosty phone call between David Beckham and the Duke, and sources told several media outlets the friendship is effectively over. One insider told the Mail On Sunday that \u201cany making up now is so unlikely.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Sun’s insider said that \u201cHarry is very protective of Meghan and decided to deal with the matter head-on by directly contacting his good pal David. Harry was very polite, but obviously it was a pretty awkward exchange and David was mortified.”<\/p>\n

Reputation laundering for the King\u2019s Foundation<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The King at his Highgrove home with David Beckham, who has become an ambassador for the King\u2019s Foundation (Courtney Louise Photography\/PA)<\/p>\n

Courtney Louise Photography<\/p>\n

While Beckham has putting in a shift in a bid for the monarchy\u2019s affection, the relationship also goes two ways. In June this year, King Charles called on Beckham to help him rebuild the reputation of his main charitable foundation after a cash-for-honours scandal.<\/p>\n

Beckham met the monarch at his Highgrove home in Gloucestershire in November<\/strong>, after which it was announced that he was to become an ambassador for the King\u2019s Foundation, (formerly the Prince\u2019s Foundation). He was given a personal tour, and said he was looking forward to exploring a newly discovered shared interest with the monarch in nature and the British countryside. <\/p>\n

The foundation, which provides educational programs to up to 15,000 people annually to foster sustainable communities, has faced controversy over allegations of “cash for access.” Claims surfaced that the then-chief executive, Michael Fawcett, had offered to help Saudi billionaire Mahfouz Marei Mubarak bin Mahfouz obtain a knighthood and UK citizenship in exchange for donations. Clarence House stated at the time that the Prince of Wales had \u201cno knowledge\u201d of the allegations, and Mahfouz denied any wrongdoing. The charity launched an inquiry in 2021, and the Metropolitan Police investigated in 2022. Last year, it announced no further action would be taken.<\/p>\n

The pair also swapped beekeeping tips, according to Beckham. To Charles’ surprise and delight, the former England captain presented him with a jar of homemade honey from his Cotswolds estate. \u201cI\u2019ll have to swap it with the one that I [make],\u201d responded the King, a keen beekeeper himself.<\/p>\n

A photo of the King giving Beckham the tour now sits prominently on the ex-footballer\u2019s website under the philanthropy section..<\/p>\n

Maybe Beckham will have better luck in 2025?<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By now, it has become something of a national running joke that David Beckham has had a years-long…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":402658,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7708],"tags":[14010,7709,7730,7731,109,1760,518,67961,532,7710,519],"class_list":{"0":"post-402657","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-royals","8":"tag-awards","9":"tag-british-royal-family","10":"tag-charles","11":"tag-charles-iii","12":"tag-david-beckham","13":"tag-king-charles","14":"tag-king-charles-iii","15":"tag-knighthood","16":"tag-prince-william","17":"tag-royal-families","18":"tag-royal-family"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115157419158322302","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=402657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/402658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=402657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=402657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=402657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}