The bombshell claims in Brooklyn Beckham’s post – from wedding dress drama to the first dance

It’s the moment the Beckham family feud finally exploded into the spotlight.

A six-page Instagram post by Brooklyn Beckham on Monday night, laying out in excoriating detail his angst against his parents, Sir David and Lady Victoria Beckham.

It made a series of claims, many of them relating to Brooklyn’s wedding to Nicola Peltz – from a wedding dress drama to Victoria allegedly hijacking the first dance.

This is of course, just one side of the story. The Beckhams have yet to respond, and as ever with such affairs, recollections may vary.

But that hasn’t stopped the internet breaking down, with fans poring over every claim and trying to work out what is true – and what is not.

We’ve been breaking down the main accusations in the post, what we know so far, and what might else might emerge.

One of the most explosive claims Brooklyn makes is that Victoria “hijacked” the first dance at his wedding, which – he says – had been planned “weeks in advance” to a romantic love song.

“In front of our 500 wedding guests, Marc Anthony called me to the stage, where in the schedule was planned to be my romantic dance with my wife but instead my mum was waiting to dance with me instead.

“She danced very inappropriately on me in front of everyone. I’ve never felt more uncomfortable or humiliated in my entire life.”

Since Monday night, mock-ups and memes of Victoria’s supposed wedding dance have been flooding the internet.

They’re all made up, of course, but people on social media are demanding those who were there to “release the tapes” of the dance.

Presuming phones were not banned at the wedding, there are 500 people out there who should be able to confirm or deny the accuracy of Brooklyn’s claim.

What we do have, is a report from British Vogue who were at the wedding.

Their account runs as follows:

“At 11pm, the circular stage revolved 180 degrees and Marc Anthony magically appeared for a live set that opened with “I Need To Know.”

“Brooklyn invited his mother on stage for a dance and they were joined by David and their 10-year-old daughter, Harper.”

BBC News has contacted Anthony, who is a singer-songwriter and friend of the Beckhams, for a comment.

Fans online have also expressed confusion about the idea of Victoria dancing “on” Brooklyn.

But what’s clear is that, Brooklyn claims the incident was so traumatic, the couple felt they needed a fresh slate.

“We wanted to renew our vows so we could create new memories of our wedding day that bring us joy and happiness, not anxiety and embarrassment.”

Elsewhere in the post, Brooklyn accused his parents of trying to derail their wedding, claiming his fashion designer mother had “cancelled making Nicola’s dress in the eleventh hour despite how excited she was to wear her design, forcing her to urgently find a new dress”.

Reports at the time suggested that Nicola, now 31, had refused to wear one of Lady Beckham’s designs.

However, she later told the Times that after some chats about the dress over text, her mother-in-law to be had realised her atelier could not finish it in time. At the time, Nicola also strenously denied speculation that there was a feud.

In the end, Nicola wore a Valentino couture creation to marry Brooklyn.

Here, too, an account in British Vogue sheds some insight into how the dress may have been chosen.

A separate Vogue article from May 2022 looks in depth at the piece and how it was in the works for many months.

The article says Nicola and her mother made multiple trips to the Valentino atelier in Rome for the fittings, “over the year-long design process”.

It quotes Nicola saying the Valentino choice wasn’t just a dress. “It was a story,” she said.

Entertainment reporter Jodie McCallum said the issue over the dress is at the “core” of what reportedly sparked the feud.

“Did Nicola refuse to wear a VB dress? Or did – as Brooklyn says – his mother cancel the dress at the last minute, making her rush to organise another dress?

“It’s a case of claim and counter claim, and it’s very difficult to know what really happened here.”

Celebrity crisis PR Lauren Beeching adds that by going into very specific detail in his statement, especially around the wedding dress, “he’s opened himself up to fact checking”.

“What’s interesting with that is, the contradiction can be read in two completely different ways.

“If you support Brooklyn, you see the Vogue interview as him and Nicola protecting the family and keeping the peace publicly at the time. But if you’re sceptical of him, it looks like he’s rewriting events now.”

Brooklyn also alleged that his parents had “repeatedly pressured and attempted to bribe me into signing away the rights to my name”, weeks before the ceremony.

It is not clear to which rights he is referring.

He said he had refrained from agreeing to do so – which “affected the payday, and they have never treated me the same since”.

“That’s pretty remarkable,” says McCallum.

“From the parents side, when they respond to that, which I think they will but it will be a very carefully curated response, isn’t that a legal issue?

“Because it’s accusing them of trying to bribe them, which is just absolutely wild.”

Brooklyn also addressed another incident which had fuelled speculation about the rift: the couple’s absence from Sir David’s 50th birthday party in London last May.

In his post, he says he and his wife had travelled to the UK for Sir David’s birthday but were “rejected for a week as we waited in our hotel room trying to plan quality time with him”.

“He refused all of our attempts, unless it was at his big birthday party with a hundred guests and cameras at every corner,” Brooklyn claimed.

He said his father “finally agreed” to meet him but on the condition that Nicola was not present, which Brooklyn called a “slap in the face”, adding that his family then refused to see him on a subsequent trip to Los Angeles.

There’s been no comment, as of yet, by the Beckham parents on this.

But at the time, a source told the BBC that the 26-year-old had chosen not to go to the party as his younger brother Romeo was attending with a woman to whom he had previously been linked.

Brooklyn’s post alleged that his mother had “repeatedly invited women from my past into our lives in ways that were clearly intended to make us both uncomfortable”.

His and Nicola’s fallout with his parents is also evidenced in another statement from the post, referring to a time Victoria allegedly declined to help them with a charitable cause.

“We’ve gone out of our way for years to show up and support at every fashion show, every party, and every press activity to show “our perfect family!”

“But the one time my wife asked for my mum’s support to save displaced dogs during the LA fires, my mum refused,” he wrote.

One of the most damaging claims from the eldest son is that behind the Beckhams’ carefully curated image are inauthentic relationships.

He says his family values “public promotion and endorsements above all else”.

“Brand Beckham comes first,” he wrote, adding that “family ‘love’ is decided by how much you post on social media”.

Brooklyn said: “I have been controlled by my parents for most of my life. I grew up with overwhelming anxiety. For the first time in my life, since stepping away from my family, that anxiety has disappeared”.

For Mccallum, this raises the question of what life has been like for him and the other Beckham children.

“This is the first time that we’re getting to see behind the candelabra. It’s not statements through a well-polished media campaign.

“It’s literally Brooklyn on his Instagram story so I think that’s why it’s become such a major thing because it’s him speaking his own words on his own social media. He’s controlling his own narrative – while accusing his parents of controlling their own narrative through very carefully curated posts.”

When it comes to fame and public profile in Britain, the Beckhams are probably second only to the Royal Family.

Brooklyn has been keen in recent years to strike out on his own, trying his hand at photography and cooking, and there have been many story and rumours about a rift. Now been laid our in public.

And what’s clear is that this is no attempt to clear the air but indication of a deep rift.

For McCallum, it’s the insight into the reality of fame that explains why so many people are fixated by this row.

“Comparison is a thief of joy. We compare ourselves to these dynasty families and these super famous celebrities, when in actual fact we don’t know what’s going on behind closed doors.

“I think that’s why this is so explosive because for the first time Brooklyn’s actually lifted the lid and saying, ‘this is not what you think is’.

“This polished perfect family, this is not what we are. This is not who you think we are.

“So I think that’s why it will resonate with people because just because they’re famous, you never really know what’s truly going on.”