At Brooklyn Beckham’s wedding, an unexpected moment unfolded when Victoria Beckham was invited on stage by her close friend, singer Marc Anthony. Four years later, this seemingly innocent event would have lingering effects.

Victoria, known for her fondness for dancing since her Spice Girls days, shared a brief salsa-inspired dance with Brooklyn to Anthony’s “I Need To Know.” The lighthearted dance, with Victoria swaying her hips and touching Brooklyn’s neck, was seen by friends as a heartwarming moment during her eldest son’s wedding celebration. However, this has since sparked widespread controversy.

While Brooklyn’s feelings at the time were not clear, his recent comments reveal a different perspective. Last Monday, in a candid critique of his parents, the 26-year-old expressed discomfort, claiming he felt ‘inappropriate’ and ‘humiliated’ by his mother’s dance. His new wife, Nicola Peltz, was reportedly so upset that she left the scene in tears.

Subsequent reports suggest that Anthony may have inadvertently caused the tension by inviting ‘the most beautiful woman in the room’ on stage, a comment that could have unsettled even the calmest of brides. It’s hard to fault Victoria for such an unintended slight.

Some reports since then have suggested it was Anthony himself who triggered the upset by asking ‘the most beautiful woman in the room’ to join him on stage – something which might cause even the most relaxed of brides to bristle. No one, surely, can blame Victoria for that.

But whatever the cause, a source has told The Mail on Sunday that it left Nicola so inconsolable that she had to be comforted in the family’s guest house by her mother and siblings.

Indeed, ever since the 2022 wedding, Victoria has been accused by some of ruining the day. Believe it or not, this is not the first time the controversy over the dance has been aired. Reports have circulated in America since the wedding that Victoria had hijacked the couple’s first dance.

Until now, of course, Victoria herself has said nothing about what must surely be one of the most talked-about dances in showbusiness history.

One friend told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Why shouldn’t Victoria be tactile with her son? She is tactile with all of her children and she always has been’

A source has said the infamous dance left Nicola so inconsolable that she had to be comforted by her mother and siblings

But today, friends of the pop star-turned-fashion designer have spoken to the MoS on her behalf for the first time – opening up about what has gone on at the Beckhams’ home since that blistering attack by one of their own.

And at the heart of how Victoria feels today, they say, is a deeply emotional response that perhaps any mother might understand – being ‘shamed’ by her son so publicly for what ultimately amounted to nothing more than a heartfelt moment of affection.

After all, as any video footage of the Beckhams together has always demonstrated, they are a physically affectionate family.

The stark truth, they add, is that Nicola simply ‘didn’t like it’.

As one friend told the MoS yesterday: ‘Why shouldn’t Victoria be tactile with her son? She is tactile with all of her children and she always has been.

‘She has nothing to apologise for, yet she has been vilified for that dance for almost four years now and that is disgusting. The Beckhams are a tactile family.

‘David still kisses the boys when they come home – they have always been close and cuddly – and Brooklyn has been tactile, too. It was authentic. David and Victoria are young, soppy parents and yet last week she was shamed for it.

‘It is deeply unfair and upsetting. There was nothing inappropriate about the dance. Nicola just didn’t like that Brooklyn was dancing with his mother so she ran off crying. It wasn’t about how she was dancing – it was to an upbeat, dancey salsa song, not exactly a Marvin Gaye love song, for goodness’ sake. Why would you cry about that?’

At the front and centre of Brooklyn’s missive to David and Victoria last week was an accusation that they were misogynists for blaming US heiress Nicola for the deep family rift

Sources have said there was nothing inappropriate about Victoria’s dancing and that Nicola simply ‘didn’t like it’

At the front and centre of Brooklyn’s missive to David and Victoria last week was an accusation that they were misogynists for blaming US heiress Nicola, 31, for the deep family rift.

But that, friends say, was a tad hypocritical given that taking aim at Victoria was ‘the absolute epitome’ of misogyny.

Far from the inference now spreading across social media that Victoria was drunk, friends insist she had not had a single alcoholic drink until after her dance with Brooklyn. And they point out, too, that it was far from just the two of them on stage – throwing a rather different light on to what has been portrayed, until now, as a more intimate encounter.

David and Harper, 14, were there, as was Victoria’s best friend, actress Eva Longoria, who partnered with the couple’s youngest son Cruz, 20, who was then single. Romeo, 23, also took to the stage with his then-girlfriend Mia Regan.

‘It was actually a big group dance,’ confirms a guest at the wedding, who witnessed Nicola being consoled in the guest house of her parents’ £76million Palm Beach home after storming off.

‘Nicola was surrounded by her siblings and her mother,’ the guest added. ‘It was like there was a counselling session going on; it was all very over the top for something so uneventful, such as Brooklyn dancing with his mum.

‘It all feels very spoilt. She had earlier had her first dance [with Brooklyn] to Elvis Presley, and she later danced with her father, so it wasn’t like Victoria snatched her first dance away. It was a case of Nicola not getting her own way, and that has been the problem throughout [their] relationship.

‘It is symbolic of the discomfort Nicola has with Brooklyn’s family that he is estranged, now, from all of them.’

David gave a speech in which the former footballer ‘spoke glowingly’ about the Peltz family

I’m told that the whole wedding ‘wasn’t exactly the most relaxed’ affair, with one guest suggesting that Nicola’s billionaire businessman father Nelson – a friend of Donald Trump who once attempted to buy New York Magazine with Harvey Weinstein and Jeffrey Epstein – was storming around in a manner described as ‘fearsome’.

But shortly after the dances, David gave a speech in which the former footballer ‘spoke glowingly’ about the Peltz family, making it clear that he was keen to keep relations between the two families running smoothly.

That, now, must surely be a thing of the past. It has been a torrid week for the Beckhams since Brooklyn’s incendiary outburst, posted to his 17million Instagram followers at 6.15pm last Monday.

Until this point, the Beckhams could have been forgiven for thinking things had simmered down a little. There had been problems before the wedding, with the couple fearing that Nicola was controlling their son, and in the aftermath. But they did manage to smooth things over for a good couple of years before relations reached boiling point last year.

There were several family holidays – where Nicola was seen dancing with her mother-in-law at least once – and Victoria supported Nicola, an actress, at the premiere of her movie Lola in February 2024.

The Beckhams also attended the launch of Brooklyn’s hot sauce brand, Cloud23, at Whole Foods Market in London that year.

Then, as I first revealed nine months ago, a devastating feud erupted that split the family apart.

As well as the claims about the wedding dance, Brooklyn insisted in his statement last week that his mother had pulled out of making Nicola’s wedding dress at the ‘eleventh hour’ – though the stylist behind the Valentino gown she wore contradicted this directly by confirming it had been a year in the making.

Brooklyn further accused his parents of trying to ruin his relationship with Nicola, claiming they had ‘consistently disrespected’ her. He added that ‘Brand Beckham comes first’ and ‘family love is decided by how much you post on social media’.

Twisting the knife, he added that he had felt controlled by his parents for ‘most of [his] life’, which left him with ‘overwhelming anxiety’. Brooklyn insists he now wakes up every morning ‘grateful for the life [he] chose’, and that he has ‘found peace and relief’.

Yet, ironically, his lengthy statement (it ran to six pages on Instagram) was the first time either party had spoken on the record about the feud, which began last spring.

As revealed by this newspaper, Brooklyn and Nicola had refused to attend any of the former England captain’s 50th birthday celebrations, despite travelling to London from their LA home.

Brooklyn has claimed that, in fact, he and Nicola wanted to see his parents alone, rather than at the larger-scale events involving wider friends and family which had been planned. David and Victoria would only meet him on his own, without Nicola, Brooklyn has since claimed.

But whatever the truth, since that time both sides have been involved in an increasingly nasty briefing war.

Nicola and Brooklyn, incensed at the suggestion that Nicola is the cause of the fall-out, even hired an attack dog PR, who previously worked with Harvey Weinstein, to look after their campaign, as well as hiring legal firm Schillings.

But never could the Beckhams have imagined that Brooklyn would drop a bombshell like the one he offloaded last week.

As their first child, friends say, the couple are ‘besotted’ with him, and have been since the day he was born in 1999.

In fact, I’m told – despite everything – there is ‘absolutely no anger’ towards Brooklyn on David and Victoria’s part. Ultimately, they just want him in their lives.

‘There is desperate sadness and worry and lots of confusion,’ a friend of the couple explains. ‘All David and Victoria want is to have a relationship with their son.

‘Whatever happens, they will always be here for him and they desperately want him to know that. They hold strong the view that Nicola has taken him away from his family. They are so very worried for him. And his friends believe he has also become estranged from his old wider circle, as he’s lost contact with them since being with Nicola, too.’

The broader concern is that Brooklyn may not have written the statement himself. Friends suggest a publicist employed by the Peltz family was behind it, and penned it to get ‘as big a reaction’ as possible from the public.

‘It is something else that has prompted David and Victoria to worry about what is happening to their son,’ says a family source.

‘There is no way he wrote that; there are Americanisms in it for starters, and it is, without being cruel, far too eloquent for Brooklyn. What 26-year-old man writes his parents a six-page letter?’

Observers also point out that it doesn’t take aim at David as much as it does Victoria. One wryly recalls that Nicola ‘never really had a problem with David, just Victoria’.

‘So it makes sense that Nicola would have been behind it somehow,’ they add.

Last summer, the whole family were surprised to see 20 photographs of Brooklyn and Nicola at their wedding vow renewal ceremony, held at her parents’ estate in Westchester, New York. None of his family or old friends were invited.

In his statement, Brooklyn said it was to ‘create new memories’ of their wedding day, unmarred by what he described as ‘anxiety and embarrassment’. But it ‘really rubbed salt into the Beckhams’ wounds’, a source said – particularly an image of Nelson hosting the ceremony.

Last week, the couple had no choice but to keep going – David found himself in Davos for the World Economic Forum just over 12 hours after Brooklyn’s outburst. I’m told it wasn’t easy for him but, as a professional, he ‘will always show up’.

Meanwhile, Victoria, amid her tears and torment, had been getting up every day to go to work at the west London headquarters of her fashion label.

But their priority has been supporting their wider family.

‘Brooklyn has three siblings and their hearts are breaking. You can only imagine how little Harper is feeling,’ says a family friend. ‘She adores Brooklyn; she was used to him being in her life for so much of it and now he has gone.

‘Amid all of this horrible sadness, it has been horrible to watch. Then there are the grandparents, Victoria’s and David’s mums and dads. It has been awful for them.’

Friends of the family tell me there were at least some joyous moments last week, despite everything.

Cruz, an aspiring musician, saw his first paid-for gig sell out in minutes. And the furore has seen Victoria’s 2001 hit Not Such An Innocent Girl rocketing to the downloads chart’s number one spot after it was rediscovered and streamed by the public.

Ironically, it is her first number one – and 25 years after it was originally beaten to the top spot by Kylie Minogue’s Can’t Get You Out Of My Head. I’m told Posh is ‘touched’ by the support from her fans and that, yes, it has brought a smile to her face.

Both David and Victoria were expected to be guests at Spice Girl Emma Bunton’s 50th birthday party at the exclusive members’ club Soho Farmhouse last night, just a stone’s throw from the Beckhams’ £12million home in Oxfordshire. While they don’t feel great, I’m told, they don’t want to let their close friend down.

As for the future, the Beckhams are resolute. They want to sit down and sort out their differences with Brooklyn and Nicola. But sadly for them, it’s the one thing that the young couple have repeatedly refused to do.