David Beckham begged son Brooklyn not to break family rule with girlfriend 'that would make him upset'

David Beckham holds his children to high standards. He asked his oldest son, Brooklyn, to observe one important family rule and made him stick to it with a last-ditch tackle on a night out with his then-girlfriend.

Former England captain Beckham has four children with his wife, Victoria, and London-born fashion designer Brooklyn is now 26 years old.

Beckham Snr is a serious tattoo enthusiast and Brooklyn has followed suit. Many of the younger Beckham's tattoos are dedicated to his wife, actress and filmmaker Nicola Peltz.

Brooklyn and Peltz sparked a wave of gossip by not attending Beckham's 50th birthday party, fuelling speculation about a rift between the two parts of the celebrity family.

"On Saturday, the Beckhams and their A-list pals attended the swanky Core restaurant in the Notting Hill area of London with second eldest son, Romeo, delivering a speech to diners to celebrate his dad," reports the Mirror.

"Brooklyn, the eldest child of David and Victoria Beckham had also been noticeably absent from any of the celebrations in the lead up to the main event on Sunday. It's said that Brooklyn's failure to attend was a 'real blow' to the former Manchester United legend."

It's a long way from the benevolent influence David had on Brooklyn when it became clear he'd inherited his father's passion for ink.

Back in 2017, Beckham told 'The Late Late Show' host James Corden that he considered Brooklyn's first tattoo to be a moment they should share.

"I've always said to him 'Your first tattoo, if you're going to have one, I want to be there, just to experience it as a dad," said Beckham, who played 115 times for England.

David Beckham and Victoria Beckham (Image: Getty)

But a friend alerted him that Brooklyn was in a tattoo shop with his girlfriend and Captain Dad raced into evasive action.

"So I called him, I FaceTimed him, and I said, 'What you doing mate?'" he recalled.

"And he said, 'I’m just going for dinner.' I was like, 'Are you sure you’re going for dinner?'"

Brooklyn wasn't going for dinner and admitted as much.

"Remember, you promised me and I’m your dad and I would feel really upset if you actually went through with it."

Crisis averted. Brooklyn held off and allowed his dad to be present for the birth of a tattoo habit that now numbers more than 100 individual pieces of art.