Longevity Boost For Beckham Brand

Knighthood for global icon maintains his fame while opening up new opportunities

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LONDON - David Beckham's knighthood is the culmination of years of tireless efforts to transcend football and turn himself into a global icon at the "intersection of sport, fashion and business".

He had long dreamt of becoming a sir and King Charles III made it a reality when he announced his birthday honours list on June 13, marking the end of a decades-long journey travelled with his Spice Girl wife Victoria.

The honour is a "powerful symbolic marker", Marie-Agnes Parmentier, professor of marketing at the University of Montreal and author of several papers on "Posh and Becks", explained to AFP.

It "reinforces his image as a respectable, committed, and, first and foremost, British man", she added.

The knighthood could present new opportunities for the 50-year-old former Manchester United and Real Madrid player, "particularly in diplomatic, charitable or political spheres".

The former free-kick ace, from a modest east London background, diversified his career after retiring from football in 2013, but success was the result of planning long before he hung up his boots.

"I knew my career was going to end at some point and I wanted to have a career after football," he said in the documentary series Beckham, which aired on Netflix in 2023.