The private jet is on standby, a smart restaurant booked and birthday boy David Beckham's favourite bottle of red is ageing nicely, ready for him to uncork on his imminent landmark birthday.

On May 2 David turns 50, and wife Victoria has been meticulously planning a top-secret trip to mark this milestone.

I'm told the location is a picturesque, remote spot in Europe and friends say it will be a 'family affair' for the couple, their sons and partners and, of course, youngest daughter Harper.

It will mirror the celebration thrown by David last April to mark Victoria's half-century. Then, the Beckham clan, plus WAGs, jetted off for a meal at the £200-a-head restaurant La Colombe d'Or on the French Riviera.

While the location is different this time, Victoria was hoping her husband's celebration would be as idyllic as her own.

However, a dark cloud hangs over the preparations for the former England captain's big day.

Relations are said, once more, to be 'strained' between the couple, their eldest son Brooklyn and his wife Nicola Peltz. Neither wished Victoria a happy 51st birthday on Thursday, while David, Romeo and Cruz posted gushing messages. Instead, the couple – who married in an eye-wateringly lavish wedding in Palm Beach, Florida in 2022 – chose to share pictures of their trip to the Coachella music festival in Indio, California.

In a world where social media posts are akin to smoke signals from the Vatican, it was quite a snub. Indeed, so brittle are things between them, I can reveal there are fears Brooklyn and his wife may suddenly decide not to accompany the rest of the family to David's birthday celebrations.

This, make no mistake, would be a body blow to David, who is a famously devoted father.

Victoria Beckham's social media post captioned, 'What a way to begin the first of many birthday celebrations for @davidbeckham, surrounded by friends and family x'

Noticeably absent were eldest son Brooklyn Beckham and his wife of three years, Nicola Peltz

'David adores his sons and he is so, so proud of how close they are,' says an associate. 'He loves having a happy family that loves spending time together.

'Family is everything to him. He is a working class boy who grew up with strong connections to his grandparents and parents, and he loves nothing more than to see his boys, and Harper, being so close. While the location will be perfect and stunning, what he wants most is for his family to be around him, happily getting along. Right now, though, things aren't great. All everyone around them hopes is that they can mend any issues in time for the big day – for David.'

This wouldn't be the first time Brooklyn and Nicola have been missing on family occasions: they have been notably absent for numerous family get-togethers over the past 12 months.

But to miss David's 50th birthday would, say those close to him, be incredibly hurtful.

The omens aren't good – neither Brooklyn nor Nicola was at David's 'pre-birthday party' in Miami last month where he kicked off the celebrations alongside friends including Lionel Messi and model Cindy Crawford.

Brooklyn's three siblings were present: brothers Romeo and Cruz bringing their girlfriends Kim Turnbull and Jackie Apostel – who Victoria is said to 'absolutely adore' – along to the star-studded bash at the Cipriani Downtown restaurant, dressed head-to-toe in the fashion designer's VB range.

Yet Brooklyn and Nicola were nowhere to be seen. It then emerged they were in Los Angeles, some 3,000km away – but a mere four-hour hop in a private jet.Sources close to the family cited 'work commitments' – Brooklyn is still trying to make his name in the food industry – and stressed that David and Victoria knew the pair wouldn't be there.

At the party, it was second son Romeo who made a speech for his beloved father, which almost reduced him to tears.

Brooklyn's no-show came as it was revealed that he and younger brother Romeo were at loggerheads over the latter's new girlfriend, model Kim, who used to date Brooklyn's close friend Rocco Ritchie – Madonna and Guy Ritchie's son.

Now, with David's big birthday less than a fortnight away, those close to the Beckhams are openly speculating whether the pair will really make the effort to jet from their Los Angeles home to celebrate with David.

At this stage, friends of the Beckhams tell me that Brooklyn has told his parents he will come, while they are said to also be 'expecting' Nicola to turn up.

Yet doubts clearly remain: 'Both have very much been invited as much-loved members the family,' the friend said. 'But you never know, Brooklyn and Nicola will do what they want to do.'

Another friend said: 'It would absolutely destroy David if any fall-outs carry on and become big deals. It would be the best birthday present ever for David to have all of his children and their partners happily having a wonderful time together. That's what really puts a smile on his face.'

Yet Beckham family observers were rather surprised last week to see that neither Victoria – famous for her gushing Instagram posts, particularly about her children –or David wished their son Brooklyn and wife Nicola Peltz a happy third wedding anniversary, or even 'liked' or commented on the happy couple's social media post about their milestone.

More than this, none of the Beckham family publicly congratulated them, including Romeo.

To celebrate three years since they walked down the aisle, the couple had posted a throwback photo from their wedding day.

Brooklyn, 26, captioned the photo: 'Happy 3 year anniversary baby x I love you with all my heart x I'm so lucky I get to spend every day with you and wake up to your beautiful face every day you are my world x I love you so much Nicola xxxxxxx.'

Meanwhile, Nicola's post – a similarly soppy caption to Brooklyn, alongside photos from their wedding day – also failed to prompt any congratulations from her in-laws.

The plot thickened further as Brooklyn documented a beautiful bouquet of flowers he received which was accompanied by a note saying: 'Dear Nicola and Brooklyn, Wishing you a very happy anniversary! Love, Mom, Dad and all the kids.'

When he first posted the snap, he simply wrote: 'Thank you' alongside the image, not specifying whether they came from his own parents or his in-laws. Perhaps realising this, Brooklyn then deleted the photo and reposted it, this time clarifying that the flowers were from his in-laws, billionaire businessman Nelson Peltz and wife Claudia.

The new message read: 'Thank you so much for these amazing flowers from my in-laws [red love heart emoji] x. Love you guys.'

Flowers posted to Brooklyn from Nicola Peltz's parents to mark their third wedding anniversary

From David's Instagram, he wishes his wife a happy birthday, writing 'Happy Birthday to the most amazing Wife , Mummy & Best Friend that we could all wish for Have the most perfect day because you deserve to and we love you so much'

It's not known whether the Beckhams sent Brooklyn and Nicola any anniversary gifts – but if they did, they were not shared by the couple online.

Away from social media, Brooklyn has also missed a total of 11 family events, the first being David's 49th birthday dinner in May last year, held at the Canton Blue restaurant at the 5-star London hotel, The Peninsula.

Later that month the family also celebrated the birthday of Victoria's father Anthony Adams, with the extended clan together for a low-key meal. Brooklyn, again, was a no-show.

During July and August last year the Beckhams went on several family holidays. Brooklyn, however, was still nowhere to be seen. All three other children were there for the trips to Muskoka in Canada and then sailing around the European coast on the family's £20 million yacht.

He was also a no-show for Romeo's 22nd birthday party in London in September last year – though perhaps understandable given the geographical distance between them. However, he didn't attend Romeo's other party in Vegas, either.

Weeks later, in October, when the family jetted to Miami to cheer on David's football team Inter Miami winning the Supporters' Shield trophy, Brooklyn and Nicola were once again missing, despite the fact couple have a £15 million mansion in the city, and live virtually on the doorstep.

In January this year, David marked the launch of his new BOSS ONE bodywear campaign for Hugo Boss with a glitzy party in London. Again, while his three youngest offspring were in attendance, there was no sign of hiseldest son.

Then came Paris Fashion Week – always a big event for Victoria, who has spoken of her nerves before such occasions and how she likes to have her nearest and dearest on the front row.

Brooklyn must have known how much his presence would mean to his mother – but he still didn't join the rest of the family, which included Romeo and Kim, and Cruz and Jackie, for Victoria's autumn/winter 2025 show on March 9.

On the previous day, Brooklyn had instead attended the Natural Products Expo West convention in California with a stall to promote Cloud23, his bottled hot sauce range.

Many have suggested that Brooklyn's sudden distancing from his family can be linked to his wife. It is well known that a distinct froideur fell over the relationship between the actress and Victoria during preparations for her and Brooklyn's wedding in May 2022.

Problems appeared to begin began when Nicola wore Valentino as her wedding gown, rather than having her dress made by Victoria. Nicola later gave an interview, insisting that ditching Victoria's offer to create her gown was not intended as a slight against her new mother-in-law.

Nicola said: 'I was going to and I really wanted to, and then a few months down the line, she realised her atelier couldn't do it, so then I had to pick another dress.' Thankfully, 18 months later everyone seemed to have made up, with family sources saying that 'time was a great healer'.

Happily, Nicola and Victoria became closer than ever before, being in regular contact despite Nicola living in Los Angeles and Victoria mostly living in London.

Brooklyn, who has always been close to his mother, was 'relieved' the two women buried the hatchet.

A friend of the couple said: 'David and Victoria were so worried they might have lost Brooklyn. David in particular handled the whole situation with kid gloves, he didn't want to do anything that would risk alienating Brooklyn long term.

'As for Victoria, when Brooklyn was growing up and David was travelling a lot for work, they were super close. Brooklyn was the man of the house and they were as good as inseparable.'

Yet, sadly, fractures appear to be developing between the Beckhams again. Those who know David say he is 'embracing' turning 50 and there will be several opportunities for Brooklyn and Nicola to celebrate with the star, should they wish to.

Unlike wife Victoria, who threw a no-expense-spared party at upmarket Mayfair haunt Oswald's, David has decided against a big do. 'It's not really him,' says a pal.

Instead, he will have a number of smaller celebrations. 'There are a few other dinners with small groups planned,' the friend adds. 'The kids may or may not be there, depending on their travel plans. Then there will be something at home with David and Victoria's extended families, such as their parents and siblings.

'It's all rather low key compared to Victoria but he's not really a huge party kind of guy.

'He just wants his loved ones around him, that's what makes him really happy.'

Only time will tell whether David gets his birthday wish to have his beloved first born, along with his American wife, there to watch him blow out the candles.