Victoria Beckham isn't officially royalty, but it's hard to deny that she is part of an alternative royal family for the Brits.
As she's transformed herself from world-dominating Spice Girl to globally-renowned fashion designer, her family has grown and Brand Beckham feels more powerful and relevant than ever. Just look at the resurgence of VB's iconic 90s bob and the rise in Google searches for the best white shirts, following the 2023 Beckham documentary.
Victoria Beckham's best looks over the years have cemented her as a fashion queen, and her relationship with David Beckham is the stuff of fairy tales.
But did you know these surprising facts about the fashion icon formerly known as Posh?
32 interesting facts about Victoria Beckham
She's a big fan of this iconic budget moisturiser
While she's undoubtedly a fan of the finer things in life, having access to the most premium brands - not to mention her own VB skincare line, Victoria reportedly often turns to budget products just like the rest of us. Her secret to radiant and moisturised skin? The Weleda Skin Food, reportedly.
"My body secret is Weleda Skin Food. What I love about it is that it’s not particularly expensive and you can find it anywhere. The formula is so thick and buttery," she told Into the Gloss .
She also revealed all of the different and creative ways she uses the product when she's incorporating it into her routine, proving how versatile the inexpensive product can be.
"When I have a tan, I’ll mix it with coconut oil—the same you use to cook with—and cover my entire body with it. I suppose some people may not like the greasiness, but it helps me hold on to the colour," she revealed. "And by the time I leave the house, I feel as if it’s really sunk in. Like my skin’s had a good drink. I go through so many of these…I wish they had bigger ones."
She was always posh, even before she was Posh
In the now meme-worthy moment from the 2023 Netflix docuseries about David Beckham, it was revealed a pre-fame Victoria Adams used to be driven to school in her father’s Rolls Royce.
However, she maintains that this isn’t the full picture. Her family had more working-class roots, but her dad’s business took off in the 80s, allowing them to enjoy the finer things after leaner years.
Victoria told Vogue about her family home in 2017, "They bought it as a shell and did it all themselves... I remember my mum cooking on a camping stove because we didn’t have a proper kitchen."
She's the eldest of three siblings
Born Victoria Caroline Adams, the woman who’d become Posh Spice was born on April 17, 1974 in Harlow, Essex. She's an Aries, and an oldest sibling.
She enjoys a close relationship with her family, and her sister – Louise Adams – regularly appears on the fashion designer’s social media posts. Her brother, Christian Adams, stays out of the limelight.
She didn’t choose her Spice Girl nickname
Victoria will never really be rid of her Posh Spice alias, but it turns out she wasn't the one behind the name,
"I was given the name Posh in 1996 over lunch with Peter Loraine of Top of The Pops Magazine and the rest of the Spice Girls," she wrote in her autobiography. "I can't say it would've been my first choice, but I ultimately grew into it on my own terms. I was young and shy, and being Posh helped me find my style and confidence, and my voice."
She was in a band before the Spice Girls
She was one-fifth of the Girl Power revolution when the Spice Girls burst onto the scene in 1997, but Victoria had tried out success with another group.
In the 1990s, she became a member of a band called Persuasion. Persuasion was made up of two boys and Victoria. Persuasion performed in disco bars around the country, with their signature track being a ditty called 'Be The One.'
While we know what happened to Victoria, it's not known what happened to the rest of Persuasion.
A fateful cinema trip changed the course of her life
It's very likely that young people seeing Posh Spice pout and sing on stage were inspired to pursue a life of singing, dancing and showbiz.
And Victoria had a very similar epiphany in 1982 when her mother took her daughters to watch the classic film Fame.
Victoria has spoken about the character of Coco (played by the late Irene Cara), who had wild hair and danced perfectly, inspiring her to follow a similar path. "I loved Fame. I had all the gear, the shoelaces, the bag, the tracksuit, the legwarmers," she recalled in the 2002 Being Victoria Beckham documentary. "After seeing Fame, that was when I decided to take my dancing really seriously."
She had other ideas if she never became a Spice Girl
Spice Girls aside, VB is now a world-acclaimed fashion designer and has an array of globally popular and highly-rated beauty products. But things could have turned out pretty different if she'd followed her original passion.
Victoria reportedly had an ambition to be a West End star. In a 2012 interview with Style Magazine, Mamma Mia! and Viva Forever director Judy Craymer revealed that the singer and designer repeatedly visited her ABBA musical when it launched in London's West End.
"When we opened Mamma Mia!, Victoria came about 18 times," said Judy. "She told me she had always wanted to be the White Cat in [Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical] Cats. I thought, if these girls hadn't become the Spice Girls, they would have been auditioning for West End shows."
She graduated from a prestigious theatre school
While she's often (comically) critical of her own singing and dancing, Victoria actually has a solid pedigree in the performing arts.
The Spice Girl attended Laine Theatre Arts in Epsom, Surrey.
The independent performing arts college has a notable list of successful alumni, including West End stars Ruthie Henshall and Kerry Ellis, Harry Potter actor Warwick Davis and Steps band member Lee Latchford-Evans.
She penned a heartbreaking letter to her younger self
For many, she is the epitome of glamour - with her little designer black dresses, slick white suits and perfect pout.
But Victoria has been very frank and candid about struggles in her life, including insecurities about her skin and weight. In a moving personal essay to her younger self in Vogue, she wrote, "I know you are struggling right now. You are not the prettiest, or the thinnest, or the best at dancing at the Laine Theatre Arts College."
"You have never properly fitted in, although you are sharing your Surrey school digs with really nice girls. You have bad acne. You think the principal has put you at the back of the end-of-year show (in a humiliatingly bright purple Lycra leotard) because you are too plump to go at the front. (This may or may not be true.)"
Her talent for fashion started young
Her first atelier was actually the school bathroom.
During a Q&A with of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, the fashion guru said, “I’ve always loved fashion. At school, I used to do a little bit of customising the school uniform in the toilets at lunchtime.”
She has, of course, gone on to expand on this concept, launching collections across London, Paris and New York Fashion Weeks to huge acclaim. Despite doubts at the start, she's earned praise from the mainstream fashion press - regularly having Anna Wintour front row for her shows.
She held other jobs before pursuing fame
Before becoming a big star, she held several, less glamorous jobs.
She had an experience of working as a promo model for a national newspaper Daily Mirror. She had to wear tight pants, boots and a small T-shirt.
Victoria also worked at a perfume counter at a big department store. This work ethic is something she and David have passed on to their children, with eldest son Brooklyn Beckham reportedly working in local cafes as a teenager.
She crossed paths with her bandmates before they were the Spice Girls
Before they came together as the world's best-selling girl band of all time, different members of the Spice Girls found themselves auditioning for the same jobs.
Victoria Beckham, Emma Bunton and Geri Halliwell reportedly auditioned to be Jet Girl in the 1995 cult hit Tank Girl. Actress Naomi Watts would go on to land the role.
She spent her first big Spice Girls pay cheque on fashion, naturally
Fashion has been in Victoria Beckham's blood since she was a child, so it's perhaps no surprise that she spent some of her first serious money from the Spice Girls on some labels.
Her first big fashion purchase? Per the Telegraph, she once shared, "I bought Patrick Cox shoes when I got my first pay cheque from the Spice Girls. They were white slingback Wannabes. I queued up outside Patrick Cox on a Saturday afternoon with my sister."
She was engaged to someone before David Beckham
Before finding love with David Beckham, Victoria Beckham was engaged to a local electrician named Mark Wood.
Mark asked Victoria to marry him in 1994.
Posh was clearly besotted by the electrician as she began calling herself Victoria Adams Wood and the name was also used on early Spice Girls merchandise.
She had another famous boyfriend in the 1990s
Victoria Beckham might be one-half of (arguably) the world's most famous power couple, but David wasn't the first celeb she was romantically linked to.
Victoria dated actor The Lost Boys actor Corey Haim in 1995, before she rose to worldwide fame with the Spice Girls. She admitted to the secret relationship in her first book, calling herself a "sad fan" who was impressed by the late heart-throb.
It was basically love at first sight with David Beckham
Victoria detailed her meeting with the former Manchester United football star.
Writing in her autobiography, she explained how the Spice Girls manager Simon Fuller was instrumental, She wrote, "Simon was a huge Manchester United fan. He introduced me and David after the game…What I really liked about David right from the start is that when all the other players were in the lounge afterward having a drink with their friends, David was sitting with his mom and dad and his younger sister.
"I really liked that. I’m really close to my family, he’s very close to his and I just thought that was really nice.”
She revealed the Spice Girls had to change their original name
Would Posh have had a completely different name had the original plan for the girl band worked out? Victoria once revealed that the Spice Girls weren't always going to be Spice Girls.
Speaking at a New York City’s 92Y Fashion Icons event in 2015 she said "We were going to be the Spicy Girls, but then…there was a porn site called the Spicy Girls. So we had to change it because that wouldn’t have been very good."
She received an OBE... and caused a minor controversy
Victoria Beckham was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to the fashion industry.
She stated she was "delighted and humbled for the recognition," which her husband also received in 2003. However, as recipients of honours are sworn to secrecy, and Beckham had announced her honour before the 2017 New Year Honours' official publication, she was criticised for the "betrayal of etiquette" by the Conservative MP Peter Bone.
Victoria and David Beckham’s wedding was comparable to a royal wedding
Victoria and David Beckham's 1999 wedding was easily one of the biggest celebrity weddings ever, and it created the kind of fervour usually reserved for the likes of a Royal Wedding.
And the couple didn't disappoint when it came to delivering their take on regal glamour.
Victoria wore a diamond coronet created for her by jewellery designer Slim Barrett. A total of 437 staff were reportedly employed for the wedding reception, which was estimated to have cost £500,000. The couple even sat on thrones at Luttrellstown Castle in Ireland.
No, she wasn’t ‘too posh to push'
Often a target in the press, Victoria was shamed in the media when she was accused of scheduling a caesarean for the birth of her and David's first child, Brooklyn, in 1999. The tabloids claimed she was "too posh to push", suggesting that her decision to have a planned C-section was not medically necessary.
Speaking in the 2023 Netflix documentary, Beckham, Victoria responded to the headlines that she "wasn't too posh to push, I was told it would not be safe for me to be put into labour."
She has opened up about fertility struggles
Victoria Beckham first opened up about her PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome) experience while trying to get pregnant with her fourth child, Harper.
She reportedly told Now magazine at the time, “Every time I go out, someone says to me, ‘Are you pregnant?'”
After first trying to dodge the questions, she eventually “resorted to overt, brutal honesty,” she said. “I keep that big smile and say something like, ‘Actually, I’m struggling with infertility because of my PCOS, so my husband and I have been through several fertility treatments. No baby yet, but it’ll happen soon!'”
Victoria and David welcomed Harper, their fourth child and only daughter in 2011. They also have three sons, Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz.
She auditioned for a surprising film role
We've seen Victoria sport several trends and styles, but could you ever imagine her in full-on combat gear?
It turns out she once met with film bosses as a possibility for taking on the role of Lara Croft in the Tomb Raider movies.
Angelina Jolie was eventually cast in the role.
She’s got some very famous friends - who became very famous godparents
Being the children of Posh and Becks is akin to being born into a type of royalty in itself, but the children of David and Victoria Beckham have the added bonus of their parents' close friends being godparents.
David and Victoria Beckham reportedly chose Elizabeth Hurley, Sir Elton John and Eva Longoria to be among the godparents of their four children.
She considers herself ‘a gay man in a woman’s body’
Famed for a dry wit, Victoria Beckham has hilariously referred to herself as more like a "gay man in a woman's body."
Speaking at a 2010 Net-a-Porter party, she said, "I adore the American Forties look. And I love modern pop - I am a gay man in a woman's body so... I love singers like Lady Gaga."
Despite solo and group success, she's not the biggest fan of her own singing
Victoria was part of the world's biggest girl band, and as a solo artist she enjoyed four solo UK Top 10 singles, but at the same Net-a-Porter event she revealed in a tell-all interview that she "will never sing again". She continued, "Let's face the music, I wasn't the best singer... I can't say music is my passion... I was never going to give Mariah Carey any competition."
During the Spice Girls' 2007-2008 reunion tour, she was the only group member not to sing a solo track. While the likes of Geri Halliwell and Mel C performed some of their post-Spice Girls singles, Victoria's solo segment played up to her burgeoning fashion career, with the star choosing to walk a runway and pose.
The chances of a Spice Girls reunion are very slim
She still loves being a Spice Girl… but don’t expect to see her back on stage anytime soon. Victoria last joined her fellow Spice Girls at the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games.
She told Marie Claire that she’s forever grateful for being Posh, but she’s also happy she’s moved forward. “I do look back and am grateful for what I achieved and for those girls in my life. But people are referring less and less to that time and it feels good. I think I've finally made the transition - I am now going into my sixth season as a designer- and all that feels like a hundred years ago.
"But the Spice Girls do seem to live on and on. Maybe that's because we had a political message that still reverberates. Girl power. Strong women."
She has a hidden talent
Singer. Fashion designer. Mango artist. Victoria revealed her skills in the kitchen delight her children.
“The most popular thing I make in my kitchen is a mango carved into a hedgehog. I do that and the kids tell everyone I’m an amazing cook," she told The Guardian in 2014.
However, it would also appear her children don't let her head get too big.
In a 2023 Instagram video, Victoria and Harper enjoy some joking together at home. When Victoria asks Harper about her skills, Harper hilariously tells her, "Mummy, you can't even make cereal!"
"Oh wow, Mummy can't even make cereal," Victoria responded.
"Well you can make a chicken kiev but that comes from M&S," Harper came back with, humbling her mother.
She’s eaten the same meal every day for 25 years
It was widely reported that Victoria keeps her diet pretty regimented, with her husband David divulging that she "only eats grilled fish, steamed vegetables; she will very rarely deviate from that."
In an interview with Net-A-Porter, Victoria gave a full breakdown of her meal plan.
"I'm flexible with regards to food, as David and I are very sociable, and we like to eat out," she told the retailer, before adding, "But when I do eat well, I see the difference in my skin – my eyes are whiter and sparklier and I have so much more energy."
She went on to further explain, "I eat lots of fresh fish, fresh vegetables and salads, as well as seeds and nuts. I also love fruit but don't eat too much, as it can make me feel quite bloated."
"Each morning, the first thing I do is have three tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, followed by a mug of hot water and lemon and multiple coffees,"
She's opened up about past surgery regrets
Victoria Beckham told Allure in 2023 that she regrets her breast implants, as she wanted to share lessons on self-love to daughter Harper.
When discussing Harper starting to point out things like a gap in her teeth or a mole, Victoria told the magazine, "Cindy Crawford is a family friend, so I said, 'Cindy was told to remove her mole, and that mole is what makes Cindy Cindy Crawford.'"
She later said that Harper did not know that her mother once had breast implants, as "we're not there just yet."
"If I’m honest, I wish I’d never [gotten implants]. It was a moment in time, and I think I can share my experiences with her,” she said. "But we’re not there just yet."
She had the best response to her ‘never smiling’ reputation
Victoria Beckham has legions of fans, but she's also a regular target in the tabloids who accuse her of looking miserable.
The star, who has enjoyed playing up to her reputation by wearing a 'Fashion stole my smile' t-shirt, has told Vogue magazine in the past, "I'm smiling on the inside."
On not smiling, she joked, "I feel that I have a responsibility to the fashion community" but elaborated that she is more than happy with her life.
She reportedly has a Birkin collection worth over £1.5M
Being both a creator and worshipper of fashion, it's no surprise to learn that Victoria has a handbag collection many could only dream of.
She was estimated to own over 100 Birkin bags, according to a story in the Guardian back in 2009 – so this collection has likely expanded since then.
The bags, made by Hermès, are considered true luxury items and only grow in value over time. Victoria’s collection includes a £100,000 shocking pink one.
The full collection was estimated to be worth more than £1.5 million.
She’s had 15 engagement rings since 1998
David Beckham likes to shower his superstar wife with incredible gifts, including what's thought to be around 15 engagement rings since he popped the question way back in 1998.
This first ring was a magnificent, marquise-cut diamond.
Adding to the collection, the Spice Girl's most expensive ring is estimated to cost £6 million.
She has reportedly received rings for the likes of her 30th birthday when she got a pink champagne oval-cut diamond ring in a halo setting and pave set band.
