Victoria Beckham Opens Up About Making a Major Change in Her Marriage

Victoria Beckham recently opened up about one of the incidents that led her and her husband, David Beckham, to implement a major change in their relationship.

The power couple, who have been married since 1999 and share four children, encountered some rough waters early on while David was still playing professional soccer. One particularly tough moment occurred during the 1998 FIFA World Cup, when David was sent off the field. David, who was playing for England in the match against Argentina, kicked one of his opponents and was red carded, prompting some English sports fans to blame the soccer star when his team was subsequently eliminated.

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David, now 49, and Victoria, now 50, weren’t married at the time of the match, but they were engaged. Years later, the Spice Girls alum recalled during an interview for Harper’s Bazaar UK's 2024 Women of the Year issue that her husband “was the same age” that their second-oldest son, Romeo, is now.

“That’s a lot for a 22-year-old,” Victoria told the magazine. “When you’re in it, there’s that sink-or-swim feeling, and you just get on with it.” But Victoria and David “had each other, and the rest is history,” though she noted they “didn’t have a choice” but to get through that difficult time.

The fashion designer observed that people “have to go through those times to make you, ultimately, who you are.” As a result of their experiences, she and her husband have learned “how to be quite discreet,” which she added is “how we want to conduct our lives right now.”

David spoke about that time in his career during an interview with The Associated Press last fall. He revisited that pivotal moment at the 1998 FIFA World Cup while working on Beckham, the four-part documentary series that Netflix released last October. The former professional athlete explained that he “hadn’t actually watched” footage of that incident on the field until recently. Revisiting it, and the backlash that followed, made him feel “shocked and emotional.”

“I knew it was bad at the time, but going over that whole thing was quite a tough one,” he said.

Following Beckham, Netflix has another documentary series in the works about Victoria. The designer described the new series to Harper’s as “very fashion-focused,” with the opportunity to spotlight her business serving as the “main reason” for making it.

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