Is this the real reason David Beckham didn’t get a knighthood?

He's pretty annoyed.

david beckham

by Helena Cartwright |
Published on

Beckileaks – the name used to describe those leaked emails from David Beckham – has rocked a lot of people.

Let's refresh what happened.

Last weekend, a whopping 18.6 million emails and documents were leaked containing three years worth of information relating to David.

And there was quite a bit in there that he isn’t proud of…

He commented on Katherine Jenkins' past drug usage as well as calling her OBE a "f*cking joke," which caused her agent – Professor Jonathan Shalit – to speak out on her behalf.

Defending Katherine, he said: "With regards to the taking of coke which Katherine has courageously publicly admitted with great honesty - this was when she was in her early 20s still studying, over a decade before she was awarded her OBE and started her recording career."

It looks as though he was being catty about Katherine's OBE because he had not yet been knighted, despite doing a lot of charity work over the years.

Katherine Jenkins

Well, it turns out it might all be down to tax.

But, sources inside the Whitehall committee – which makes recommendations on honours decisions – has told the Mirror that Beckham had been given a ‘red flag’ by HM Revenue and Customs for his tax affairs back in 2013.

The source said: "For anybody who is being considered for an honour, we got advice on the reputational risk on relation to their tax affairs.

victoria beckham david beckham

"It is ranked red, amber and green. And if it is red, the general rule is you do not give them an honour."

While there was no suggestion that David had broken any laws, the warning from HMRC was enough for Beckham to miss out on a knighthood at that time.

Maybe next year, David?

As a side note, David and Victoria Beckham supposedly pay a massive £22,000 in tax EACH DAY!

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