Ever since retiring from soccer in 2013, the 50-year-old has pursued business deals, raised a family with wife Victoria Beckham, built up a philanthropic legacy, and gotten close to the British royal family. In September 2022, the self-described “huge royalist” even waited 13 hours in the queue to see Queen Elizabeth’s casket as she was lying in state. Over the last few years, Beckham has been a reliable presence at royal engagements, even exchanging honey with the king and joining Prince William for a helicopter photo shoot. In 2024 he made the affiliation official when he became an ambassador for the King’s Foundation, the youth-empowerment charity Charles founded as a young Prince of Wales in 1976. “I’m excited to be working with The King’s Foundation and to have the opportunity to help raise awareness of the charity’s work,” Beckham said in a statement at the time. “I’ve always been keen to help young people to expand their horizons and I’m particularly looking forward to supporting the Foundation’s education programs and its efforts to ensure young people have greater access to nature.” The UK honors system, which dates back centuries, awards prominent Brits with a tiered series of medals to commend their contributions to public life. While serving as the captain of the England national team, Beckham received the medal for the Order of the British Empire, the second rung on the ladder to knighthood, from the late queen in 2003. There is no set timeline for knighthood after a person has received an OBE, and many who receive the initial honor do not go on to receive the final one. Beckham celebrated his milestone birthday recently with a series of parties in London. The reporting following one of those parties revealed that Victoria and David’s oldest son, Brooklyn Beckham, has been making a few new royal friendships of his own. The hot-sauce entrepreneur and his wife of three years, Nicola Peltz, reportedly went to a dinner party with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle instead of attending his father’s birthday celebrations. People reports that the party took place at the home of Paramount Pictures CEO Brian Robbins and his wife, Tracy Robbins. “Brooklyn and Nicola were invited prior to David’s numerous global birthday galas, so the timing is pure coincidence,” a source told the magazine. “Brooklyn and Nicola had a wonderful time and found Harry and Meghan to be particularly kind, caring and generous.”