Standing side by side with her loved ones to celebrate the wedding of her eldest son Brooklyn to actress Nicola Peltz in April, Victoria Beckham beamed with pride as her family welcomed its newest member.
However, eight months on from the lavish Palm Beach wedding and Victoria, 48, couldn’t have anticipated how relations would unravel. Numerous rumours of a rift between her and her daughter-in-law began to emerge with Brooklyn becoming increasingly estranged from the Beckham family in the months since.
We reported last month how Victoria, 48, had been left “teary” after her invitation to celebrate Christmas at their family home in London had apparently been snubbed by Nicola, 27, in favour of spending the holidays with her family at their £76 million Florida mansion – with Nicola posting an Instagram video of their extravagant silver Christmas tree.
However, a source now reveals Victoria is desperate to move on from the animosity that has been building up since the wedding, and wants to meet Nicola face-to-face to get to the bottom of their feud and start bonding again as a family.
They say, “After a year of bickering and tension, Victoria is finally at the end of her tether with Nicola and wants to put it all behind them this year.
“She wants to see eye to eye with Nicola wherever possible but she’s not afraid to have a showdown with her. Victoria wants to lay all of their problems out on the table and try to get to the heart of the matter.
“Brand Beckham is never short of any drama, whether it’s David’s Qatar controversy (which saw the football manager criticised over the country’s stance on homosexuality), or people poking holes in Vic’s fashion empire – but she feels the least they can do as a family is stand by one another.”
Rumours of a rift between Victoria and Nicola first emerged just days after the wedding, when sources revealed how Nicola was so upset she had stormed out of the reception when her mother-in-law reportedly “hijacked” the song she and Brooklyn had chosen for their first dance for her own mother-and-son moment.
And while Nicola attempted to squash rumours of a feud during an interview in October, there has been no mistaking the growing physical distance between Brooklyn, 23, and his mum.
While Victoria, alongside husband David and their three other children – Romeo, 20, Cruz, 17, and Harper, 11 – holidayed in Europe on their yacht in July, Brooklyn opted to spend time with Nicola celebrating her grandmother’s birthday instead.
Brooklyn also delivered what was perceived as a low blow, when he responded to rumours of a divide between his mum and Nicola, who fans had noted had become absent from each other’s social media pages, during a magazine interview.
“To be honest, my wife is obviously my first priority and I never want to see her upset ever,” he said.
And despite Victoria being left hurt by the seemingly sudden shift in family loyalty, the source says she’s happy to accept that Nicola will be calling the shots when it comes to making decisions for herself and her new husband – but she’s still eager to make sure the newlyweds remain part of “Brand Beckham”.
Days ahead of Christmas, the mum-of-four appeared to soften when talking about her children on the Armchair Expert podcast, admitting, “You’re just trying to do the best you can as a parent. You want them to be happy, hard-working, good, kind human beings. But ultimately, you know, the kids have got to do what they’re going to do. You’ve just got to be there to support them and love them,” she said.
Now, the source adds, “She wants both Nicola and Brooklyn to agree to more family commitments.
“She really hates the idea of the other kids seeing how Brooklyn and Nicola behave and thinking that it’s OK. Victoria already feels like she sticks her neck out for Brooklyn’s career and she worries about all of the backlash he’s been getting recently about his aspirations to be a chef.
“But Victoria is willing to step back when it comes to personal matters and she also wants to show Nicola some respect and understand that she’s her own woman who is trying to make her mark in her marriage.”
Much like actress Nicola, Victoria was in her twenties and at the height of her singing career as part of the Spice Girls when she first met David, and they fast became one of the most-talked about couples in the world.
“In some ways Victoria can see a bit of herself in Nicola when she and David were first starting out,” the source says.
“Victoria knows full well she made many mistakes with David in their early years, so she’s willing to forgive Nicola where she’s been naïve.
“But at the end of the day, she just wants them to be able to move on and live harmoniously.”