Cruz Beckham's 21st birthday was meant to be uncomplicated fun. In the photos, Victoria Beckham is all smiles, dancing, laughing, wrapped in that glossy, well-practised Beckham ease. But according to people close to her, behind the curated party snapshots is a mother still reeling from a very public rift with her eldest son, and increasingly afraid that those trying to defend her might actually make everything worse.
The fault line is Brooklyn Beckham, 26, whose relationship with his parents has been under intense scrutiny since he released a six-page statement last month accusing Victoria, 51, and David, 50, of controlling him and mistreating his wife, actor Nicola Peltz Beckham. It was a brutal airing of family tensions from a clan that has spent decades projecting unity and control.
