It looks like David and Victoria will need to set another place at the next Beckham family meal. Last weekend, their youngest son Cruz, 19, was spotted looking smitten on a cinema date with his new girlfriend Jackie Apostel – and apparently mum Victoria, 50, is keeping a close eye on the relationship.
The young couple were out in London’s Chelsea with Cruz’s older brother Romeo and some friends when they put on some serious PDAs. Cruz looked happy to show off his new girlfriend to the world, lifting up the Brazilian singer and passionately kissing her on the street. However, insiders say that the relationship has led to a crisis for mum Victoria, who’s worried about welcoming someone new into the fold.
There’s an anxiety for Vic that comes with inviting a new person into their world – especially one they barely know – and all the secrets and personal information about their family that will naturally be shared with them,” an insider tells heat.
Posh is also mum to Brooklyn, 25, Romeo, 21, and Harper, 12, with husband David, 49 – and, while she is notoriously close to her children, her relationship with their plus-ones hasn’t always been as smooth. She reportedly gets on well with Romeo’s on/off-girlfriend of five years Mia Regan – who was noticeably absent from the cinema outing – and Mia is often seen wearing VB’s fashion label and commenting on her social media posts. However, things haven’t been as straightforward with Brooklyn’s wife Nicola Peltz-Beckham, who he married in April 2022.
Victoria and Nicola were famously rumoured to have fallen out over Nicola’s decision not to wear a VB-designed dress on her wedding day, instead opting for a custom Valentino Haute Couture gown. Tensions between the pair reportedly reached the point where Brooklyn and Nicola started to spend less time with his family as a result. Another bone of contention was the newlyweds also choosing to base themselves in the US near Nicola’s family, rather than in the UK with David and Victoria. However, in the past year, the mother and daughter-in-law have made an effort to put all rumours of a feud to bed, frequently sharing complimentary posts about each other on social media.
Our insider says that the experience, as well as the media frenzy surrounding their alleged feud, has left Posh feeling wary of new girlfriends driving a wedge between her and her kids. We’re told, “Things are at a very early stage for Cruz and Jackie, but Victoria doesn’t want to make the same mistakes she made with Nicola and end up alienated from Cruz.
She wants to ensure she welcomes Jackie with open arms, but she can get paranoid if Jackie asks questions about the family or if she is privy to any personal conversations between them.”
Victoria and David – who recently celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary – have lived their entire relationship in the public eye and, as one of the most famous couples in the world, people are endlessly fascinated by their family life.
From their extravagant 1999 wedding, cheating allegations and career highs and lows, to their triumphant Beckham documentary last year, they have weathered plenty of storms over the years. But, as heat has reported, the recent publication of journalist Tom Bower’s “tell-all” book The House Of Beckham has been seen by some as tarnishing the Beckham brand with rumours of tax avoidance and adultery – so it’s no wonder Vic wants to keep their circle tight. Not only that, but now that three of the couple’s four children are grown-ups and are becoming stars in their own right, we’re told she wants the family to stick together to avoid any future crisis for the brand.
“Vic always makes a conscious effort to forge a close bond with the boys’ girlfriends. She knows only too well how unpleasant it is if there is tension between her and one of her son’s partners, as there was for a while with Nicola,” says the source. “But given she doesn’t know Jackie well, she’s concerned that the relationship could backfire and lead to trouble down the line. There’s always the fear that if things fall apart, anyone new could divulge secrets to try to damage their brand.”
There’s also the worry that Cruz could move thousands of miles away with Jackie – who used to be part of the Brazilian girl band Schutz – which has further sparked Vic’s fears of having an empty nest.
The singer-songwriter spends a lot of time in London, but is said to consider Brazil home and eventually wants to return to South America. It would be a blow for Victoria if Cruz were to go with her, given that she’s already lost Brooklyn to the US. “From what Cruz has told Victoria, Jackie wants to live near her loved ones in the future, so the thought of having yet another son live thousands of miles away is understandably a concern,” we’re told.
However, insiders say that Victoria knows she is getting carried away thinking about the worst case scenario when it’s still early days for the young couple. Apparently, David is urging her to keep a cool head and reminding her that she doesn’t have to become best friends with Jackie right away. Our source says, “David has urged Vic to be as welcoming as possible without opening up to Jackie like she has done with other people in the past – he’s encouraged her to keep her guard up until they know Jackie better.”
The source adds, “Ultimately, Vic just wants Cruz to be happy and to keep the family as close as possible. So, she’s hoping they can build up that trust with Jackie and forge a bond as they get to know her more.”