David Beckham’s Furious Leaked Emails After 2014 Knighthood Snub

For some time now, there have been rumours of a serious rift in the Beckham family, between eldest son Brooklyn and famous parents David and Victoria. Speculation then turned into fact when the 26-year-old recently explained why he no longer wants any contact with his family.

In a remarkable social media post this week, Brooklyn accused his Manchester United legend father and pop star mother of ‘controlling’ behaviour, as well as trying ‘endlessly to ruin’ his relationship with wife Nicola Peltz. In the eye-opening statement, he listed a number of incidents which have helped drive a wedge betwen the family, which included his mum hijacking the first dance at his weddding, where she ‘danced very inappropriately on me in front of everyone’.

David has since spoken about the claims, appearing to try and play down the drama. He said: “They make mistakes, but children are allowed to make mistakes. That is how they learn. That is what I try to teach my kids, you sometimes have to let them make those mistakes as well.”

Amid the fall out, as the public and those with connections to the family continue to take sides, some personal leaked emails have resurfaced online. They may allow for an interesting insight into what Beckham senior is really like behind the scenes.

Beckham Fumed Over ‘Disgrace’ Knighthood Snubbing

The emails were allegedly sent in 2014 after Beckham was snubbed for a knighthood. It’s long been known that the former England captain wanted to make the honours list, but it took until November 2025 before he finally became a sir. Having missed out in 2014, he supposedly delivered an angry rant about the perceived snub, branding the committee a ‘bunch of c***s’ and the honours system a “f**king joke”.

The emails purporting to be from Beckham were published by website Football Leaks (the sporting equivalent of Wikileaks), via Mirror. In full, he apparently said:

He also supposedly wrote, “Unless it’s a knighthood f**k off”, and is alleged to have questioned why classical singer Katherine Jenkins had been given an OBE for, “singing at the rugby and going to see the troops plus taking coke. F**king joke”. In response, Jenkins’ spokesperson said the singer was awarded the honour for her services to charity and music and she had “courageously publicly admitted” experimenting with cocaine as a student in her early twenties.

Beckham is Said to Have Regretted Sending the Emails

In The Mirror’s article, it’s added that’s friend of the star later revealed that Beckham regretted sending the messages but had done so “in the heat of the moment.” The source explained: “Genuinely, he wasn’t as vitriolic as that, but you do say some things in private and in the heat of the momenet.”

“To be honest, he does feel that he has given so much to his country. And sometimes you say things in private that anyone would say and you don’t really mean it. While he was frustrated in those emails, he was over it the moment he sent them. Getting the knighthood is not what his work is about. He doesn’t care if he gets a knighthood or not.”

One of the reason behind the 2014 snub was reportedly related to his involvement with an film finance scheme which HMRC considered to be tax avoidance. This had raised a ‘red flag’ and halted his chances. There was no suggestion of any wrongdoing on the part of those who invested in the Ingenious Media scheme, though, and the footballing icon would eventually become Sir David Beckham in 2025, although Brooklyn and his wife Nicola were notably absent from the ceremony.