David Beckham

You're right merlot, I should have kept off that subject - Annie will never let it go now!

Ana , Charles got his place in Cambridge in his teens I believe

The Royal children are not exploited, Annie Quite the opposite.

I found the damage limitation picture of DB with Harper quite yucky. He should be leaving the kids out of this hoo-ha which is of his making not their's

Ana.....or should that be [groan]

Wrong Ana, I am happy to let it go , judt think it hypocritical to condemn the Beckham children for doing what many children of people in the public eye do. I am against tax avoidance , I could be wrong but Beckham has never seemed a financial wiz kid

Pity Diana hadn't taken that advice Merlotgran

Oh yes. Apart from Princess Diana........

I think there's a big difference between pre arranged photcalls with the press to periodically up date the public on George and Charlotte and the complicit and orchestrated way the Beckhams have promoted their children for their own ends. Harper, aged 5 for example, cannot make an informed choice as to whether she is viewed by millions and I agree with Merlot there was a definite manipulation in "the good daddy" damage limitation photo.

And Charles got his place at Cambridge with two Es

I agree with Merlot and Terribull that the quickly posted photo of father and daughter was deliberately timed to take "our" mind off the fact that daddy B may not be as squeaky clean as we were lead to believe.

My problem is with absolute hypocrisy of charity work on one hand and tax avoidance on the other.

Yep Rigby , but that wasn't because of family connection surely

Prince Charles was a very long time ago when the royals did use rank not brain, Prince William, however, got a place at St Andrews fair and square,no favouritism or pulling rank there! I think it's the hear and now were talking about, not circa 1969!

I wish I was perfect, like so many posters here.
I enjoyed Becks when he played for MUFC, I groaned when his bad tempered kick cost us so much as England fans, I was pleased when he got therapy to control his temper.
He's the first to say he was poorly educated. VB I'm sure similarly. I am not surprised they used legal means to ensure they paid as little tax as possible. I wish they hadn't but they are not the first and certainly won't be the last to use 'legal loopholes' as instructed by the accountants they pay a small fortune to.

I know I'm slightly off piste on all of this but honestly, I cannot get agitated against Brand Beckham when there are other individuals behaving very badly indeed. I wouldn't be a celeb if you paid me a small fortune. Luckily, no one has suggested I make that move from very ordinary gran and dog lover to celeb status. I am not convinced my very ordinary life would withstand the attention of the media.

I'm not perfect by any means, Iam64, but there again I don't fiddle my taxes, exploit my celebrity status and children and carry out charity work with my eye on a Knighthood at the same time...

(or would it be a Ladyhood?)

Exactly Ana .

No one "knows" them apart from close family and friends. I think it's disgusting that private emails become exposed. So what if he was having a moan. He's done more good than bad. I'd find loopholes to dodge a bit of tax if I legally could. I personally don't know anyone who offers up more than they have to.

Leave the fella alone.

Correct me if I'm wrong but both Mr and Mrs Beckham have received OBEs - is that not enough?

I thought it had been established that his emails had been hacked, altered and then sold to the media after they tried to blackmail him?

Doyen Sports, a Portugal-based sister company to Oliveira’s Doyen Global, which represents Beckham, became aware that its server had been hacked in 2015. In early 2016, an unknown individual approached Doyen Sports seeking up to £1m in exchange for not publishing the information.

The company refused to pay and the Portuguese police were alerted. The suspected blackmailer is understood to have gone into hiding and is said to be untraceable.

but never, mind the juicy gossip is always the most interesting

Would you like someone to read all your private stuff then Jalima. I think it's bloody disgraceful.

'here' and now, not 'hear'!

No, I most certainly would not, I am passing comment on everyone in the media gasping, repeating it and saying ooh, how terrible.
Perhaps the was not the right thing, perhaps a would have been better.

The man has been judged and found wanting, seems he has feet of clay.

I think he has perfectly good feet otherwise he would not have played football so well.

And he is probably absolutely correct when people get knighthoods for such spurious reasons.

Besides which, his emails were allegedly tampered with and altered to make them look worse than they were.

Allegedly being the operative word...

Who knows what's true these days?

Judged by who Annie? you? Ive not judged him. Think he's all the more human now (not that I've read any of it). There are some sick people out that that think it's ok to hack into other's private business. Unfortunately, it's very profitable for them as a lot of people feed off this type of crap.