It’s a missed goal for David Beckham this year. The star soccer player did not make the queen’s New Year Honours List despite being tipped as a favourite, with some saying he was likely to be knighted by his pal, Prince William.
Instead, the heavily tattooed former midfielder will not become Sir David, nor will his wife become Lady Victoria – at least this time round.
Last month Britain’s Grazia magazine confidently reported: “Beckham, 38, is set to receive a knighthood for his contribution to British football and his services to charity over the years.
“After retiring last year he gave his entire £3.5 million (R60m) pay packet to a children’s charity in France,” the magazine said.
Sir David Beckham and Lady Victoria, as they would have been known, had to go through a series of checks before the nomination could be validated.
The Daily Express online said yesterday: “Bookies had been so sure he would receive a knighthood they stopped taking bets a fortnight ago. However, a source has told a Sunday newspaper he has been snubbed by a few ‘stuffed-shirt snobs’ who thought it was too soon to afford him the honour.”
Beckham, who played a key role in securing the 2012 Olympics for London, had his name put forward in May after he retired from a 20-year career in top flight football which earned him 115 England caps. – The Mercury