Whatever David Beckham secretly wished for as he staged his lavish 50th birthday celebrations, it certainly would not have been to witness the hurtful spectacle of his own sons at war.

Nevertheless, his various parties, in France, London and the Cotswolds, have all been overshadowed by the enduring rift that has pitted his eldest son Brooklyn, and his wife Nicola Peltz on one side, and the rest of the family on the other.

Brooklyn, 26, and aspiring actress Nicola, 30, have been notably absent from all the various stages of his father’s parties, fuelling much speculation in the media as to the cause.

The pair were not at David’s birthday dinner at Core restaurant in Notting Hill, west London at the weekend.

They also failed to join David and Victoria and their other children Romeo, Cruz and Harper when the family flew to France for a day of celebrations on Friday.

And they were also absent from a big family party at the Beckhams’ £10million Cotswolds estate last Wednesday, when David and Victoria were joined by their parents and siblings.

Romeo Beckham’s girlfriend Kim Turnbull is being made the ‘scapegoat’ in the feud between Brooklyn and David – with Nicola Peltz ‘at the centre’ of the rift

Brooklyn, 26, and actress Nicola, 30, have been notably absent from all the various stages of his father David’s 50th birthday parties, fuelling much speculation in the media as to the cause

That their eldest son, owner of H๏τ sauce brand Cloud23, should fail to turn up was even more surprising since Brooklyn and Nicola were in London the entire time, having jetted in from their Los Angeles home.

Among the various conspiracy theories that have sprung up to explain Brooklyn’s repeated no-shows, some have centred on Romeo’s girlfriend, DJ and entrepreneur Kim Turnbull, 25.

Kim, is the well-heeled granddaughter of renowned post-war sculptor and painter William Turnbull, while her father Alex Turnbull and uncle Johnny were part of the post-punk band 23 Skidoo, formed in 1979.

She previously dated Madonna and Guy Ritchie’s son Rocco, and through that connection was part of a тιԍнтknit friendship group in 2016 which included Brooklyn Beckham.

Kim and Brooklyn were undeniably close for a brief period – as pH๏τographs of them together at the time show – but suggestions that they were ever an item are wide of the mark, according to well-informed sources.

That Kim has now been ‘thrown to the wolves’ as the reason behind the family row is ‘deeply upsetting’ to Brooklyn’s parents and brothers.

In fact, younger brother Cruz, 20, personally shut down the gossip recently when he responded to an Instagram post showing a picture of Romeo and Kim together.

In a now-deleted message, one user commented: ‘It’s appropriate to date your brother’s ex too? Cool.’

Some conspiracy theories around the absence have centred on Romeo’s girlfriend, DJ and entrepreneur Kim Turnbull, 25, who was previously close with Brooklyn (both pictured in 2016) 

However, their younger brother Cruz, 20, personally shut down the gossip recently when he responded to an Instagram post showing a picture of Romeo and Kim together

Cruz replied: ‘Brooklyn and Kim never dated.’

One friend told the Mail’s Katie Hind at the weekend: ‘This is nothing to do with Kim and is all about Nicola,’ said a friend.

‘All David and Victoria want is their son back – and they will be there to welcome him any time.’

Family friends claim Brooklyn’s wife has a pattern of ‘starting an argument’ before family events and then preventing her husband from attending.

Some believe that friends of Nicola have been behind the briefings about Kim being the cause of Brooklyn’s rift with his family, some of which went so far to claim that he had told them he refused to come to any event at which Kim was present.

A source close to the family told MailOnline: ‘Brooklyn was close to Kim because she was dating Rocco and they all hung out in a тιԍнтknit friendship group. But that was years ago. Brooklyn and Kim were close, but there was never any romance.

‘It seems Nicola doesn’t like Brooklyn spending any time with the Beckhams full stop and is using his previous closeness to Kim and her getting in with the family as a reason to not be around them. She denies it, but Nicola has been controlling him since the wedding. The family – including the brothers – have had enough of it.

‘This is the narrative that’s been put out to other news outlets, that Romeo is dating his brother’s ex-girlfriend – and that’s really weird, so that’s why they wouldn’t want to be around the family when she is there.

Friends claim Nicola has a pattern of ‘starting an argument’ before family events and then preventing her husband from attending (pictured: Cruz, Romeo, Harper, Victoria and David all at the footballer’s 50th birthday bash in the Cotswolds on Wednesday)

‘But none of this is true. And it’s really upset Romeo and his parents because Kim is seemingly being used by Nicola as a reason to start the rift. Romeo is furious at the suggestion that he would bring an ex-girlfriend of Brooklyn into the family when there never was any romance.’

Kim, from north London, works as a model and DJ, which forms a link to her uncle Johnny beyond his youthful punk days, as he’s also the founder of UK hip hop label Ronin Records and boasts plenty of connections in the music industry.

Like Romeo, Kim has collaborated with several fashion brands, including Tommy Hilfiger, and is often spotted at exclusive events with other stars.

Kim spent her teen years partying with Brooklyn and Rocco Ritchie, whom she befriended after he moved to London.

Romeo first publicly launched his relationship with Kim last November after weeks of exchanging flirty ‘likes’ on Instagram and she has since been warmly welcomed into the family.

Around this time, Nicola and Brooklyn, who have always been loyal ‘likes’ of his social media posts, stopped showing any appreciation for his content.

Kim looked comfortable posing with the famously тιԍнт-knit Beckham family in group pictures shared of them online over the past few months, most recently at David’s birthday celebrations.

According to TMZ, Brooklyn and Nicola requested to privately see David on his own to celebrate his birthday away from Romeo and Kim.

It was claimed Brooklyn and Nicola pulled out of attending the Met Gala (pictured there in 2022) to attend David’s 50th birthday bash, but they never showed at the either event

The publication claimed Brooklyn and Nicola ‘would not be present at any public family events that Kim is at for the foreseeable’ after things started to ‘go south in December’.

But it has since been suggested that Brooklyn told his parents that he would be around to celebrate David’s birthday, before his screeching U-turn on the matter.

The couple apparently flew to the UK with the ‘sole purpose’ of celebrating with David but they were apparently told their options were to attend the family events or not at all.

The US publication also suggested that Brooklyn and Nicola reached out privately to wish David a happy birthday on the big day.

It was claimed Brooklyn and Nicola pulled out of attending the Met Gala with the intention of attending David’s birthday party, but were no shows at both events.