Victoria Beckham is reflecting on some family memories with her sons, amid ongoing tension within the Beckham family.
On Thursday, January 22, photographer Platon Antoniou shared a heartfelt Instagram post revisiting a behind-the-scenes moment from a 2006 photoshoot with David Beckham, now 50, while he was playing for Real Madrid. The post included a series of black-and-white images and a deeply personal recollection of the day, which also happened to include a rare glimpse into the Beckham family dynamic at the time.
“In 2006, I travelled to Madrid to photograph David Beckham,” Antoniou wrote. “He was playing for REAL MADRID and by now was one of the world’s biggest superstars. That day his family came to visit. Victoria arrived with Brooklyn, who was seven years old, Romeo, who was four and Cruz, who was just a baby.”
Antoniou went on to describe the lively energy the Beckham boys brought to the studio. “Brooklyn and Romeo charged into the studio wearing football kits, kicking balls, doing headers and other tricks,” he recalled. While Victoria tended to the children, Antoniou began working with David—until a spontaneous family moment unfolded.
“At one point, Brooklyn ran on set with his football under his arm and hugged his dad’s right leg. Then, Romeo joined his older brother. Then, Victoria also appeared with baby Cruz in her arms. The whole family turned away from us for a private heartfelt group hug,” he wrote. “It was a poignant thing to see — this spontaneous moment of affection happening on a giant photography set in front of 60 people. Celebrity comes with a heavy price and often it is family members who also pay.”
The photographer admitted the moment moved him deeply, but he made a conscious decision not to capture it. “To see this tenderness was very moving,” Antoniou explained. “But my portraits are always collaborative and I never feel comfortable stealing a moment.”
After the shoot, Antoniou asked Victoria if the family would be willing to recreate the embrace. “She gently smiled and said, ‘Thank you for not taking that picture earlier. Today, I’m not here as a celebrity, I’m here as a mother. I hope you don’t mind if I respectfully pass.’”
He praised her response as “dignified and sincere,” adding that Victoria later offered a compromise. “‘But David will do a back shot,’” she told him.
The resulting image showed David shirtless and facing away from the camera, his sons’ names—Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz—tattooed across his back. (David and Victoria, 51, also share daughter Harper Seven, 14.)
“In this picture, although David stands alone, we see the love of his children tattooed onto his back. Family is everything,” Antoniou concluded.
Victoria echoed the sentiment in the comments, writing simply, “Brings back great memories! ❤️.”
The reflective post arrives just days after Brooklyn, 26, publicly addressed his strained relationship with his parents. In a lengthy Instagram Story shared Monday, January 19, Brooklyn alleged that he does “not want to reconcile” with his family and claimed they have been “trying endlessly to ruin [his] relationship” with wife Nicola Peltz Beckham.
“I have been controlled by my parents for most of my life,” he wrote. “I grew up with overwhelming anxiety. For the first time in my life, since stepping away from my family, that anxiety has disappeared.”
