Showbiz royalty David and Victoria Beckham have attended their first state banquet at Buckingham Palace as they joined the King and Queen for the glittering affair in honour of the Qatari ruler.
The ex-England captain and the former Spice Girl turned fashion designer – dubbed “Posh and Becks” – were among the 170 guests in the Palace ballroom on Tuesday evening.
Beckham was invited because of his close relationship with Qatar after acting as a paid ambassador for the country when it hosted the 2022 Fifa World Cup, which netted him a reported £10 million.
But he faced fierce criticism over the connection because of Qatar’s criminalisation of same-sex relationships.
Beckham and former Posh Spice, Victoria, will dine on a menu of Windsor pheasant, Cornish lobsters and a Balmoral plum sorbet, joining guests such as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and the Prince of Wales.
Missing was the Princess of Wales, who is gradually returning to public duties after her cancer treatment and who left earlier in the day after the lunch and Picture Gallery exhibition.
The Beckhams processed into the ballroom alongside fellow guests.
Beckham, dapperly dressed in white tie and tails, chatted to Victoria as they made their way through the East Gallery.
Victoria, dressed in one of her own designs, wore a fitted dark purple floor-length Victoria Beckham evening gown with long fitted sleeves.
Her hair was swept into a sleek pony tail and she gave a small chuckle as they headed towards the ballroom.
She slowed as she spotted a photographer and moved closer to her husband to hold his hand.
As is the custom for couples at state banquets, the Beckhams were sat apart, on opposite sides of the banquet table, with Beckham next to Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, who was sat on his right, and Nasser Al-Khelaifi, president of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) football club.
Beckham spent a four-month stint at PSG before retiring in 2013 after a 20-year career.
The Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani set up Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) in 2005, which owns the French team PSG.
“Mrs Beckham”, as she was labelled on her place setting, was sat between Labour peer Lord Levy and surgeon and former health minister Lord Darzi of Denham.
Guests will also be treated to a special mocktail after dinner. During the King’s reign, a new one is created for each state banquet.
The Beckhams will be able to enjoy a Royal Mirage, made of smoked pomegranate and ginger with black lime garnish.
The non-alcoholic tipple reflects the colour of the Qatari flag and observes the fact that the Emir and his party do not drink alcohol.
It was created by the Palace’s Page of the Presence, who is a mixologist and also studying for a Masters in wine.
Seasonal flowers celebrating the red and white hue of the Qatari flag and the festive time of year were on show in ballroom.
Florists put the finishing touches to the elaborate displays in honour of the Emir and the first of his three wives, Sheikha Jawaher.
Dramatic vivid red amaryllis served as a focal point, standing tall in silver-gilt centrepieces taken from the Grand Service, with bright scarlet winterberries, hydrangeas, red nerines and black tulips among the foliage, collected from Windsor Home Park and the Orchard Garden at the glasshouses in Windsor.
Earlier, the King and Queen surveyed the scene, checking personally on the vast, elaborately decorated horse-shoe shaped table.
Beckham has developed a strong bond with the royal family over the years, recently becoming a celebrity ambassador for Charles’s charity The King’s Foundation, with fellow ambassador Sir Rod Stewart teasing him that his knighthood was “coming soon”.
The former Manchester United midfielder also met Charles at Highgrove in the spring.
He joined the Prince of Wales in October to celebrate smashing a £15 million target to replace London’s ageing air ambulance helicopters.
Beckham has visited the Palace before, meeting the late Queen at a Queen’s Young Leaders event in 2018, and the former footballer and his wife headed to the Palace in 2003 when Beckham was made an OBE.
The couple also attended the Sussexes’ wedding in 2018 and William and Kate’s wedding in 2011.
In 2022, Beckham joined the long public queue to see the late Queen lying in state in Westminster Hall, waiting in line for 13 hours.
The Beckhams’ former mansion, Rowneybury House, in Hertfordshire was dubbed “Beckingham Palace” by the press and the pair posed on thrones on their wedding day in 1999.
A number of Victoria Beckham’s designs have been worn by royals in recent years, including Meghan and the now-Duchess of Edinburgh.
She has met the King as the Prince of Wales on a number of occasions with the Spice Girls, including when he was joined by a young Prince Harry in South Africa.
Victoria was made an OBE in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to the fashion industry and received the honour from William during an investiture ceremony at the Palace.
The banquet menu begins with a light tartlet of Cornish lobster with quail eggs and organic salad leaves, followed by supreme of Windsor pheasant wrapped in savoy cabbage, with roasted celeriac puree, with gratinated potatoes with a soft creamy cheese from Suffolk, truffle sauce and a selection of winter vegetables.
Dessert is an iced bombe with organic Samoan vanilla ice cream and Balmoral Plum Sorbet.
Music was played by the Hiraeth String Quartet and the King’s Harpist Mared Pugh-Evans, with tunes including Moondance by Van Morrison and excerpts from the film La La Land.
After the banquet, the flowers will be donated to the charity Floral Angels, of which Camilla is patron, and delivered to hospices, elderly care homes and shelters.
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