THEY were the Prince Charles and Princess Diana of their day, the world lapping up every detail of their blossoming romance.
And in part three of our series celebrating David and Victoria Beckham’s 25th wedding anniversary on Thursday, we tell their love story in their own words.
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From falling for each other before they even met — after the ex-England captain saw the pop star wearing a sexy catsuit in a Spice Girls video — to secret trysts in a pub car park, their relationship has gone from strength to strength.
Since their fairytale wedding broke a world record and they started the next generation of brand Beckham, we have been hooked on everything Posh and Becks have said and done.
Author Virginia Blackburn, who wrote biographies for both, told The Sun: “They were the non-royal version of what Charles and Diana had been in the 1980s. Everything they did made headlines. They had both been successful apart but, once they got together the combination was far more successful than they had been individually.
“Their wedding was all over OK! magazine, the first time a celebrity wedding had garnered £1million. It was a sensation.
“They’ve had longevity, which is so very rare in the world of celebrity. They’ve built up something really successful.”
His story
We’ve been together 27 years and we were only saying to each other the other day that we actually quite like each other
David Beckham
RECALLING fondly the first time he laid eyes on Posh, David told The Sun: “I always said that once I met Victoria, I would always be with her.
“A couple of months before we met I was abroad with the England team. Gary Neville and I were in the hotel room and a Spice Girls video came on. I think it was Say You’ll Be There. I pointed at the screen and told him, ‘That’s the girl for me and I’m going to get her’.
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“It was her eyes, her face. She’s my idea of perfection.”
They finally met the following year and David, now 49, recalled how they initially took things slowly — before enjoying secret trysts in the footballer’s BMW in a Harvester pub car park.
He said: “I fancied her like mad but I didn’t want to rush things. It was hard, but I managed to stop myself kissing her until our fourth date. I’m glad I waited. It was a great kiss.”
On radio show Desert Island Discs in 2017, David said of their meet-ups: “We used to kiss, of course, and just spend time together.”
While Posh had a jet-set lifestyle with the Spice Girls, David was based in Manchester, where he played for Man United, meaning much of their early courtship was at a long distance.
He told The Sun: “We spend a small fortune on phone calls. The club physio said I may have slightly damaged my neck because I’ve spent so much time cradling the phone on my shoulder.
“And he wasn’t joking.”
The former footballer has given his wife a total of 15 different engagement rings as a token of his love throughout their marriage.
After their fairytale wedding at Luttrellstown Castle, near Dublin in 1999 they jetted off to Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, on the French Riviera, staying in composer Andrew Lloyd Webber’s villa.
In his Netflix docuseries last year, ex-England captain David said: “We were meant to be there for ten days but the manager (Sir Alex Ferguson) called me about five days in and said, ‘I need you back in training’.”
Their marriage has survived two-and-a-half decades of ups and downs.
On James Corden podcast This Life Of Mine, Becks revealed it took years to fully discover what he deeply loved about Victoria, now 50.
He said: “Yes, she’s beautiful and yes, she’s sexy, but I like the fact that she works hard. We’ve been together 27 years and we were only saying to each other the other day that we actually quite like each other.
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“It’s important to, after being together for so many years.
“We can still have dinner and laugh and joke, or not say anything to each other, and that’s the important part of being in a relationship.
“Having quiet moments with my wife and my kids and my family is the place where I’m happiest.”
The couple’s three sons, Brooklyn, 25, Romeo, 21, and Cruz, 19, may have left the nest, and only 12-year-old daughter Harper is still at home, but the family are as close as ever.
David says he has been much softer on his kids than his own dad Ted, 75, was on him.
He explained: “I’m definitely not as tough as my dad. I’m a lot softer, but I would like to say I’ve brought my children up with the same values as my dad and mum taught me.
“They are very polite, well-mannered, humble, and they all have the same values I have and my wife has. That’s the proudest thing we have as parents. But all of those moments where my dad was hard on me as a kid, there was a reason for it.
“Those tough moments I had in my career, all I knew was to put my head down and work hard.”
In the Netflix series, Becks told of his struggles with OCD, which saw him meticulously folding clothes for his wardrobe, cleaning the kitchen and wiping down candles before bed.
He revealed: “When everyone’s in bed, I then go around, clean the candles, turn the lights on to the right setting, make sure everywhere is tidy. I know it’s weird. I clean it so well. I’m not sure it’s actually appreciated so much by my wife. It’s tiring.”
David added: “Victoria is a great mum and she looks after me most of the time — and we’ve created this amazing life together, we’ve got our four kids. She kind of runs the family.
“I think that is the most important thing to me because family’s always been important, and the greatest thing she’s ever given me is my four children.”
Her story
I thought one word: Gorgeous. I said: ‘I’m telling you, Mr David Beckham, if you don’t ring me I’m going to kick you in the b*ll*cks
Victoria Beckham
VICTORIA admits: “I fancied David long before we met.
“I remember doing an interview for a soccer magazine and they showed me photos of different footballers.
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“I had no idea who he was, but I just remember thinking one word: Gorgeous.”
The couple finally met properly in the players’ lounge at Manchester United’s Old Trafford ground in 1997, just before Victoria was due to go abroad with the Spice Girls.
In her life story, Learning To Fly, Victoria recalls: “We looked at each other. We both knew.
“I said, ‘Go on, give me your number then and I’ll call you’.
“‘No’, he said, quick as a flash. ‘You give me your number’.
“So I did. I opened my bag, found a pen, then looked for something to write on.
“The tear-off bit of my boarding card, that would do. First I wrote my mobile number. Then I thought better of it.
“You never know. I scribbled over the top then wrote down my mum’s number.
“‘I’ve got to go now’, I said.
“‘I’m telling you, Mr David Beckham, if you don’t ring me, I’m going to kick you in the bs next time I see you’.
“By the time I was next back in England a week later, me and David had talked for hours and hours on the phone.
“I don’t think there has been a day in my life since then that we haven’t spoken to each other.”
Describing the footie idol’s kind nature, Victoria said: “It was clear from day one that he was a complete gentleman.
“David had been brought up to have a lot of respect for women, something that’s pretty rare these days, and that’s all down to his parents.”
Victoria and David used unusual tactics to keep their relationship under wraps from the world during the first eight weeks of their romance.
She explained: “We used to go out in disguises, hats, glasses, all sorts of ridiculous clothes — and it worked. No one found out.”
The loved-up pair got engaged during a romantic weekend away at the Grade II listed Rookery Hall Hotel in Nantwich, set in 38 acres of Cheshire countryside.
Victoria recalled in her book: “We had a lovely light room overlooking the garden and, the second night we were there, David proposed.
“Went down on his knees and asked me to marry him. I didn’t dare say anything to anybody. All that mattered was what we knew, what we felt for each other . . . We were like kids, we were so excited.”
As a token of their love and commitment, Becks — who was then earning £18,000 a week — presented his pop superstar girlfriend with a £40,000, three-carat, single-stone, marquise-cut diamond ring valued at around £200,000 today.
Just after the couple announced their engagement, in January 1998, Victoria told The Sun: “I’d told him what my dream ring would be. He remembered and had it specially designed for me.”
Posh, then worth an estimated £5million, upped the ante by producing her own £50,000 diamond ring for David.
Recalling the moment, she said: “We were sitting in our dressing gowns when David pulled out the ring, got down on one knee and said, ‘Will you marry me, Victoria?’. I said, ‘Yes’, then produced my own ring and said, ‘Don’t forget Girl Power, will YOU marry ME?’.”
After 25 years of marriage, and four children, Posh told Spanish Elle magazine how the secret of their relationship is they still laugh together, explaining: “My husband is an inspiration to me.
“We like to have fun, chat, dance, drink. And laugh at each other. That’s what it takes to be happy.
“I realise that we have become a model. People like to see relationships that last.”
And as Victoria admitted to her Hollywood pal Drew Barrymore: “He’s amazing. He’s so supportive. We’re both supportive of each other.”
The star — who became emotional at her 2022 Paris fashion show when she saw David watching — said of her soulmate: “He’s a really, really, really great dad. He’s a fantastic husband.
“He works so, so hard. And I feel very lucky that we have each other.”
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