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The world of showbiz is reeling after the Beckham’s eldest child Brooklyln released a devastating and lengthy statementover his shattered relations with his famous family. In his six page Instagram post the 26 year old made damning claims about the overwhelming "control" his mum and dad, Davidand Victoria, have asserted over his entire existence and the effect it has had on his mental health.

"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."

In particular he went on to explain his stance on the wedding dress drama between his mother and his wife Nicola and how Posh "humiliated" him on his wedding day with her "inappropriate" dance. Here the Mirror takes a detailed and historical look at how a mother’s love may have turned so toxic for the son she adores.

• Victoria Beckham dancing footage emerges - and it's nothing like Brooklyn claims
• Gaping hole in Brooklyn Beckham's statement as Nicola's bridal stylist shares truth

Like any new mum Victoria, who is now 51, doted on her first baby from the day he was born. She and England footballer husband David welcomed little Brooklyn in March 1999 when the Spice Girls were riding high and the celebrity pair were the IT couple of the moment. His birth cemented the Posh & Becks brand and only added to their global appeal.

In his statement Brooklyn spoke about the crippling "anxiety" he grew up with which presumably wasn’t helped by being continually under the spotlight. As a baby he was often seen publicly, with his parents choosing to allow his image to be published in the press. David would often bring his young son onto the pitch after football games, delighting the crowd and adoring fans who were obsessed with the young, ‘perfect’ family. As he grew into a young boy, Victoria would often take a suited and booted Brooklyn to high-profile events where he would always be snapped by the paparazzi.

Often when his dad wasn’t around and as a young teenager when he was no doubt already feeling pretty awkward, he went through a period of accompanying his mum to many red carpet events. Victoria was often pictured with her arms draped around her son’s neck while she kissed and stroked his face, such as at the Harper’s Bazaar Women of the Year Awards in 2013 when the 14 year old was her cute date for the night.

The designer received the Special Contribution to British Fashion award and afterwards shared her immense pride with her millions of Twitter followers: "Special evening with my family celebrating women at the @BazaarUK awards in London," she wrote. "I'm so proud of Brooklyn x vb."

A couple of years later in 2015, when he was 16 and looking slightly more confident, the strapping young man accompanied his mum to another huge event. She was once again being honoured with an award and this time it was her son who presented it to her on stage where she gave him a loving hug.

While at the time these events seemed to be joyous moments, Brooklyn’s claims of the manipulation of their public persona sheds a new light on them from his perspective. "For my entire life, my parents have controlled narratives in the press about our family. The performative social media posts, family events and inauthentic relationships have been a fixture of the life I was born into," he raged in his statement.

The public family appearances continued even after Brooklyn married model and heiress Nicola Peltz in 2022 when relations were already extremely strained. The newly-married couple attended Victoria’s shows and posed together for pictures. Brooklyn refers to his and Nicola’s continued efforts to be there for his parents at events. "We've gone out of our way for years to show up and support at every fashion show, every party, and every press activity to show 'our perfect family," he said.

However, since deciding he has had enough of the facade, he also declared: "'My family values public promotion and endorsements above all else. Brand Beckham comes first. Family "love"' is decided by how much you post on social media, or how quickly you drop everything to show up and pose for a family photo opp, even if it's at the expense of our professional obligations."

Being a self-confessed nepo baby, Brooklyn has had the privilege of being able to try out many different career paths and he’s certainly taken advantage of it. He attempted to follow in his dad’s very large footsteps when as a child he played for Arsenal’s youth team. However the pressure of being Golden Ball’s son and his failure to secure a scholarship meant he decided to ditch his dreams of emulating his dad’s success.

Both Victoria and David have always stressed their desire to instill a good work ethic into their children and when he was 15, Brooklyn took a part time job as a barista in a coffee shop in west London. Next up was a stint as a photographer. Despite being lucky enough to assist renowned fashion photographer Rankin, Brooklyn failed to complete his studies in New York. He still managed to secure some high profile shoots, including for his mum’s Reebok collaboration but his book What I See, was slated by critics for its obscured images. After a brief stint in modelling he tried his hand at cooking and launched a web series during the pandemic, even though he’d never had any professional training. He’s also launched his own products, including a sake drink and a hot sauce.

As Victoria watched her son fail to find his feet in the workplace, she decided to take matters into her own hands. She herself is no stranger to the struggles of forging a successful career after her solo singing attempt flopped and it took her years to finally be accepted in the snobby world of high end fashion.

Although youngest children Cruz and Harper were still at school in the UK, she decided she wanted the family to spend more time in America so she could guide Brooklyn. "Victoria feels that Brooklyn is quite lost at the moment with what he wants to do and feels she needs to be by his side more," a source told Heatworldin 2021. "She encouraged him to get into cookery and make a career out of it, and she thinks he needs her help. Vic is a hands-on mother, and she is on a mission to sort out Brooklyn’s life now. She feels that she needs to spend more time with him to make his cookery career a success."

It’s believed that David wanted Brooklyn to get more training before his wife used her contacts to help him again. Apparently she realised he was right but still wanted to spend more time in the US to guide him. "She can’t help but micromanage and wants to get Brooklyn on the right track. He’s a good kid and doesn’t deserve the criticism, so she wants to help," the insider continued. "Victoria is fully aware that Brooklyn is a grown man, but to her, he’ll always be her baby, and she wants to help as much as she can."

One of the most eye-popping claims in Brooklyn’s statement was that his mum "humiliated" him on his wedding day by taking control of his first dance with his new wife. "My mum hijacked my first dance with my wife, which had been planned weeks in advance to a romantic love song," he wrote. "In front of our 500 wedding guests, Marc Anthony called me to the stage, where in the schedule was planned to be my romantic dance with my wife but instead my mum was waiting to dance with me instead."

As if that wasn’t enough he went on to state that his mum put on a toe-curling performance that meant the newlyweds decided to renew their vows three years later to rid themselves of the memory. "She danced very inappropriately on me in front of everyone. I've never felt more uncomfortable or humiliated in my entire life," he fumed. "We wanted to renew our vows so we could create new memories of our wedding day that bring us joy and happiness, not anxiety and embarrassment."

Reports of what happened on the day vary, with some suggesting Brooklyn and Nicola had their first dance earlier on in the evening and the mother-son routine took place later as planned. Whatever happened, their special day was already marred by the mystery over why Nicola didn’t wear a dress designed by her future mother-in-law.

Actress Nicola has previously spoken out to claim she wanted to wear a VB dress but that Posh’s atelier couldn’t make it in time so she was forced to go elsewhere. Brooklyn’s take was less politically correct and laid the blame entirely at his mother’s door: "My mum cancelled making Nicola's dress in the eleventh hour despite how excited she was to wear her design, forcing her to urgently find a new dress," he said.