What Do Cruz and Romeo Beckham Think of Their Family Feud?
“I have been controlled by my parents for most of my life," wrote Brooklyn Beckham on Instagram. “I’m not being controlled, I’m standing up for myself for the first time in my life,” clarifying—once and for all—his position in a family rift that appears to have widened between the Beckhams’ eldest son and his parents, David and Victoria Beckham. To those quick to blame Nicola Peltz, the actress Brooklyn has been married to since 2022, he countered that the prevailing narrative is exactly backwards. For most of his life, he said, it was his parents who shaped and managed his image: “All my life my parents have controlled the narratives in the press about our family. Performative posts on social media, family events, and inauthentic relationships have been a constant in the life I was born into.”As the drama spills into the open, attention has turned to how Brooklyn’s siblings are responding. In addition to their eldest, Victoria and David share three other children: Romeo, 23, Cruz, 20, and Harper Seven, 14. While the youngest is, of course, too young to comment, the boys have not explicitly weighed in either—though subtle signals have not gone unnoticed.Cruz, for his part, shared an Instagram story showing himself drinking a can of Guaraná, soundtracked by his mother’s 2001 single “Not Such an Innocent Girl.” The song—long remembered for its sultry undertones—includes lyrics that gesture toward duality and misperception. “First impressions can be wrong / So let me clear what’s going on / Baby, I’m not who you think I am,” Victoria sings in the opening verse. Whether Cruz intended the post as a nod to Brooklyn’s claim that the public version of their mother masks a more complicated reality—or as a cautionary message aimed at his brother—is open to interpretation. What is certain is that the song, from Victoria’s self-titled debut album, surged to the top of the U.K. streaming charts shortly afterward. Cruz later posted a second story, revealing what appears to be the title of an upcoming track of his own: “Lonelist Boy.” The implication—that he may be feeling isolated or adrift amid the family turmoil—was hard to miss.Romeo, meanwhile, appears to be distancing himself from the feud altogether. He was photographed in Paris with his partner, DJ and model Kim Turnbull, attending a party at the Hôtel Costes during fashion week. Brooklyn, too, seems intent on projecting calm. Shortly after sharing his statement, he was photographed walking hand in hand with Peltz on a beach in Malibu, the couple strolling quietly with their dog.As each of the Beckham children processes the rupture in their own way, Brooklyn’s words linger—perhaps as both explanation and warning—for Cruz, Romeo, and Harper alike: “I grew up with overwhelming anxiety. For the first time in my life, since stepping away from my family, that anxiety has disappeared. I wake up every morning grateful for the life I chose and have found peace and relief."
