Sir David Beckham. Sir Goldenballs. Once upon a time, when Beckham was in his sarong-wearing Nineties heyday, the idea of this petulant, photogenic but somehow risible footballer being awarded a knighthood would have seemed utterly ridiculous. Yet we now live in an age where other similarly lightweight people can be awarded such honours; Sir Ringo Starr, anyone? And so the absence of a KBE from Beckham’s considerable roster of trophies and honours seems almost unfair. Whatever you make of him, Beckham is one of the most famous living Englishmen, a man who has acted as an informal ambassador for his country for decades. Surely Beckham is worthy of the recognition that he clearly craves?
Beckham should be careful for what he wishes
It must help that Beckham is on good terms with the royal family. This week, he was photographed along with his wife Victoria at a state banquet at Buckingham Palace in honour of the Emir of Qatar. His presence, which was not announced before the event, was not without its controversial aspects. Beckham was much criticised in 2022 for serving as an ambassador for the World Cup in Qatar that year, given the country’s human rights record. But, that controversy aside, Beckham clearly enjoys an increasingly warm relationship with the King and his eldest son. Not only was Beckham made an ambassador for the King’s Foundation earlier this year, but he has also worked with Prince William to raise funds for the London Air Ambulance.
Charitable endeavours, international fame, the present and future king at his beck(s) and call; why on earth doesn’t David Beckham have a knighthood? As usual with these things, there is a relatively simple explanation. Just as Noël Coward was denied the chance to call himself ‘Sir Noël’ until 1970 because of a wartime controversy over some undeclared foreign currency, so Beckham was caught up in a hoo-ha in 2013 about his supposed use of a tax avoidance scheme.
Although Beckham was swiftly cleared of any wrongdoing, and theoretically placed on a fast-track honours recommendation list, the snub clearly rankled. Embarrassing emails then surfaced in 2017 in which Beckham declared that: “I expected nothing less. It’s a disgrace to be honest and if I was American I would of [sic] got something like this 10 years ago.”
For good measure, he called the honours committee “unappreciative c***s” and picked on, of all people, the wholesome Welsh warbler Katherine Jenkins, saying “Katherine Jenkins OBE for what? Singing at the rugby and going to see the troops plus taking coke. Fucking joke.”
The incident did not do Beckham’s public reputation any favours, and so it has been no surprise that, in the Beckham household, the annual announcement of knighthoods and damehoods may as well be known as Passover. Yet he has clearly decided, as he approaches his fiftieth birthday next year, to redouble his efforts in the acquisition of a gong: hence the ostentatious charitable endeavours, the frequent appearances in Buckingham Palace and the earnest attempt to rehabilitate himself, all spearheaded by a soft-focus Netflix documentary that was rather better-received than the one involving Beckham’s sometime friend Prince Harry was.
It would not come as a great surprise to find, in next year’s honours, that Beckham’s diligent pursuit of a knighthood has been successful, and that the walls of his home – ‘Beckingham Palace’ – will resound to the sound of celebrations. Still, Beckham should be careful for what he wishes. Another much loved DB, the late David Bowie, turned down the honour on repeated occasions, saying: “I would never have any intention of accepting anything like that. I seriously don’t know what it’s for. It’s not what I spent my life working for”.
Nearly a decade after his death, Bowie retains his cachet, in part because of his refusal to toady to the establishment. Beckham should look to his fellow Londoner’s example and decide whether this particular game is worth the strenuous effort, after all.
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