Standing on stage at Claridge’s in Mayfair, Harper Beckham looked paralyzed with nerves. Dressed in a custom-made dress by Victoria’s VB brand, she was there to present her mother with a prestigious entrepreneurship award on behalf of Harper’s Bazaar magazine at its annual Women of the Year event.
With the likes of Dame Jilly Cooper and actress Jodie Comer in the audience, the 13-year-old’s anxiety was understandable.
“I’m really nervous,” Harper confessed, amid sympathetic coos. Especially since tonight is school night. “I hope this doesn’t get me into trouble,” he added, before praising his mother as someone he has “always admired.”
‘She has built an incredible business from scratch and has shown me the value of working hard. But above all, he has taught me to always be kind and, although he has a million things to do, he rarely misses school.’
And with that, Victoria, 50, “my amazing mom,” walked up to the stage and received her gong from her daughter.
Dressed in a custom dress from her mother’s VB brand, Harper Beckham attended the Harper’s Bazaar Women of the Year event on Tuesday to present the former Spice Girl with an award.
Of course, Harper is no total stranger to the spotlight. She appears on the family’s Instagram accounts and is a front row fixture at Posh fashion shows. She is also often seen cheering on her father David’s Inter Miami CF soccer team in Florida.
But her appearance at the high-profile fashion event certainly marks her debut as a celebrity in her own right.
Welcome to Beckham 2.0, where little Harper will earn millions thanks to being the only daughter of Britain’s biggest celebrity brand. It won’t hurt that the moment was captured by a camera crew filming Victoria’s upcoming Netflix documentary, nor that older brother Romeo, 22, took to Instagram to congratulate Harper on her first bona fide solo outing .
In fact, Harper’s appearance mirrors that of her older brother Brooklyn in 2013. Then, a nervous 14-year-old accompanied Victoria to the Glamor magazine awards, where, in David’s absence, she referred to him as his “date” for the night.
Dressed in a smart black suit, but still baby-faced, Brooklyn looked equally terrified as guests at the event made a beeline for him. Today, he’s a confident influencer, making millions from endorsement deals, and married to a billionaire’s daughter.
She may have looked like a rabbit in the headlights back then, but now she clearly feels at home in the world of fashion and celebrity.
Harper’s protective father, David, has never been as comfortable with his children being celebrities as their mother.
Yesterday, one industry insider mused: “That’s when it all started for Brooklyn, and yes, there are some parallels between him and his little sister now.” So, will Harper, the Beckhams’ long-awaited daughter, follow in her brother’s footsteps, or even her mother’s?
It seems very likely. In a video shared by Posh last month with her 33 million Instagram followers, Harper confirmed her desire to “create an amazing brand” when she grows up.
That may be in the not-too-distant future, because Victoria has already set up a company called H7B Limited, which coincides with the teenager’s full name, Harper Seven Beckham. H7B also has the former Spice Girl and a lawyer as directors,
and Victoria will almost certainly take over Harper’s social media when she starts using it.
While sources close to the Beckhams say any use of the business is “not imminent,” this week’s awards will no doubt make brands willing to work with her; I have been told that some have already contacted me. After all, Harper is among the most famous 13-year-olds in the country.
One source said it would be “a dream” for cosmetics brands popular with girls her age, such as Drunk Elephant or Glossier. But Harper’s protective father David, 49, who was notably absent from the awards, has never been as comfortable with his children being celebrities as their mother. Youngest son Cruz signed with Justin Bieber’s manager Scooter Braun to release a pop album in 2016, when he was just 11 years old.
Harper’s appearance mirrors that of her older brother Brooklyn in 2013. She is pictured with Victoria at the Harper’s Bazaar event in November of that year.
Meanwhile, Brooklyn, then 17, landed a deal with Penguin Random House to publish What I See, a book of her photographs. And Romeo, who was 14 in 2016, had already modeled for Burberry. In the past, Victoria has been mocked within her social circle for being a ‘mom’, the term coined for Kris Jenner, the mother of the Kardashian and Jenner sisters. So are the Beckhams aligned when it comes to their daughter?
Harper and David are said to be “very close.” He has always run the school from his £31 million mansion in Holland Park, west London. And I’m told that he does everything he can to protect her from the fame that sometimes irritates him.
“There has always been a fear that because Harper is the only girl, she will have a much higher profile than her older brothers,” says an associate of the Beckhams.
“She’s a lovely girl and David just wants her to remain innocent for as long as possible. Basically, they just don’t want her to become Paris Hilton,” they add, referring to the socialite reality TV star and scion of the family that founded the Hilton hotel business.
After Harper’s speech on Tuesday night, Victoria said: “Walking up on stage in front of a room full of people is scary and you did it with such poise and such elegance.”
‘You teach me to see the world with new eyes. And as busy as I am, being a mother is the most important job for me.”
I’m told that while Victoria and Harper contributed to their speeches, they were written by the fashionista’s publicity team.
What did not go unnoticed was that the event was organized by a magazine that bears Harper’s name.
A source close to the Beckhams said: ‘Victoria is not stupid. You can see what she did there and you can see why some still call her the mum.’ Whether it’s the best in the business, only time will tell.