Tonight, with his glamorous wife Nicola on his arm, Brooklyn Beckham will no doubt be posing for photographers on the steps of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The young couple are on the guest list for this year’s Met Gala, the highlight of New York’s social scene, and their appearance at such an event would once have been a proud moment for Victoria and David Beckham.

This year, though, it will be bittersweet – marred by their eldest son’s failure to turn up to any of his father’s 50th birthday celebrations over the past week.

Yesterday, proof of the rift – which sources close to the Beckhams have told the Mail is ‘beyond repair’ – was laid bare for all to see when the family shared their favourite pictures of the week-long celebrations on Instagram.

Brooklyn is noticeably absent as his parents and three siblings, Romeo, 22, Cruz, 20, and Harper, 13, pose in their finery at the family’s magnificent home in the Cotswolds.

David and his sons are in black tuxedos and Victoria, 51, is wearing a £900 navy silk dress from her own label in the same colour and fabric as daughter Harper’s.

For a couple who dote on their children, the caption is almost as heartbreaking as the fact their eldest son is missing from the joyous scene. ‘Creating special memories with family and friends. We love you all,’ writes Victoria, her message followed by a heart emoji and tags for David, Romeo, Cruz and Harper.

So it will undoubtedly hurt when the couple’s first glimpse of their son in a while will be photos taken on the red carpet on the other side of the Atlantic. Their agony all the worse for knowing that Brooklyn, 26, appears to have spent the past week in London and yet still didn’t turn up to any of the celebrations.

David Beckham's 50th birthday party in the Cotswolds with all his family - but no Brooklyn

Romeo Beckham and David at the latter's birthday dinner in London

Victoria Beckham posted this image on Instagram of the celebrations, saying she was 'creating special memories with family and friends'

‘They always knew he was due to attend the Met Gala but the fact he was in London and still didn’t come has really hurt,’ a close friend of the family tells me. ‘They failed to turn up at any family events and yet they will go to a place where they will barely know anyone.’

To add insult to injury, Brooklyn and Nicola had shared pictures of themselves larking around in their London hotel suite on Instagram over the weekend, as well as in a restaurant where a friend posted a snap of three champagne glasses.

But rather than point the finger of blame at their errant son, the Beckhams are understood to be concerned about the influence Nicola, the 30-year-old daughter of American billionaire Nelson Peltz, has over him.

‘Victoria and David would do anything to get their son back, but they are done with Nicola now,’ adds the family friend.

‘Nicola basically finds a way to start an argument then she pushes him to not speak to his family and then he doesn’t show for family events. She’s done this before every family event since the wedding. As for David’s birthday, it feels like it’s all part of the same pattern. Brooklyn will think he is going to see his family so he will make plans to. On this occasion he told his parents some weeks ago he’d be there for David’s birthday.

‘But then what happens is Nicola will kick something off and it will blow up and then it becomes impossible for him to go. It all stinks of a control thing. The family are absolutely certain this is what happened this time round, that a drama was created and Brooklyn doesn’t feel he can turn up to see his family – but it happened three times in a week.

‘There were different kinds of events so he could have surely found one that would have suited them, so it makes you think there was drama after drama while they were here. He’s a kind boy who clearly doesn’t feel he can stand up to Nicola.’

Behind closed doors, comparisons are perhaps inevitably being drawn to the strained relations between Prince Harry and his family since Meghan arrived on the scene. ‘Brooklyn isn’t talking to his family, or his old friends,’ mused my source. ‘The similarities are pretty much uncanny.

Victoria also photographed the former England star with his daughter Harper

David expressed his love for Brooklyn, aged seven in the photo, on his Instagram Stories

David and Victoria with their son and his wife Nicola Peltz on their first wedding anniversary

‘Nicola and Meghan are both American and also four years older than their husbands.’

Those who have been present at events with Brooklyn have seen examples of Nicola behaving in a ‘stroppy’ manner – something Brooklyn will always apologise for.

Friends have also noted that in pictures of the couple he will gaze at Nicola lovingly, yet she will look away. The pair are also rarely ever seen on their own.

Brooklyn has distanced himself from his former friendship group, too. He was once very close to Gordon Ramsay’s son Jack but they no longer see one another, and the same goes for Madonna and Guy Ritchie’s son Rocco.

‘Brooklyn used to love being out with his friends,’ says a one-time close associate. ‘He had a great social life. He went to the Fine Arts College in north London and he had a great crowd of friends but not any more.

‘There is much concern for Brooklyn right now, he has changed. Nicola comes first and it’s about what she wants. David and Victoria are especially worried about the nature of the relationship. All they want is for Brooklyn to be happy, maybe he is but this is very concerning for all of the family.

‘David and Victoria adore their kids all the same but with Brooklyn they’ve always been aware that the limelight he experienced as a young boy may have had an effect and have done all they can to make up for it,’ said the former associate.

The Beckhams have always turned up to support Nicola in her work, for example the premiere for her movie Lola last year. They were also at the launch of Brooklyn’s Cloud23 hot sauce in Whole Foods in London’s Kensington recently.

‘It’s all been thrown back in their faces,’ adds the family friend. ‘They have tried and tried but they are done with her. It will hurt a lot to see Brooklyn and Nicola in photos at the Met Gala and yet he couldn’t make the family celebrations.’

The apparent estrangement put a huge dampener on David’s milestone birthday celebrations. Sadly, however, for David, Victoria and Brooklyn’s siblings, it is something they have grown used to.

Brooklyn and Nicola have missed a total of 12 family events in the past year now, the first being David’s 49th birthday dinner in May last year, held at the Canton Blue restaurant at the five-star London hotel, The Peninsula.Friends of the family were wary of Nicola’s ambition when the couple first began dating in 2019.

‘Nicola’s family are much, much richer than the Beckhams,’ notes the source. ‘But the Beckham are so much more famous. There isn’t a showbiz family that is anywhere near their level of fame when it comes to social media.’

Insiders believe that Brooklyn’s surname and Instagram following of 16.4million, compared to her three million, are a big part of the appeal. ‘Nicola loves that aspect of it all. That definitely keeps her in the limelight. Some might be inclined to believe she uses her connections – and husband – for what she can get from them.’

Friends of the Beckhams also tell me that at the beginning of her relationship with Brooklyn, Nicola was keen to become the next Victoria Beckham. But famously the pair first fell out in the run-up to Nicola’s lavish £3million wedding in April, 2022, on Palm Beach, Florida.

Problems appeared to begin when Nicola wore a Valentino wedding gown, rather than having her dress made by Victoria, who she hoped would make it for her.

Relations remained strained for over a year, although the two women did appear to reach a truce and normal family relations resumed for while.

The events of the past week, though, have clearly reopened old wounds, leaving Victoria and David devastated and facing the prospect of a long-term estrangement from their son.

In perhaps a last-ditch attempt to reach out to his firstborn, David posted a poignant photograph of himself with his then seven-year-old on Instagram last week. The simple, heartfelt caption read: ‘@brooklyn-beckham I love you.’