The profound taboo at the heart of the Beckham family feud. Everyone is quietly thinking it - is no one going to say it? asks AMANDA GOFF

I risk starting with a cliché here when I say there's something of a Greek tragedy in the rift between Brooklyn Beckham and his famous parents.

And that's not a clumsy reference to Victoria allegedly dancing 'on' her son during his wedding – or so Brooklyn claims.

Instead, I mean it has all the hallmarks of those great fables - sons turning on fathers, pride before the fall, the crushing personal cost of achieving greatness.

But at the same time, the story of Brooklyn's rift with his parents, Victoria and David, is also a painfully contemporary one. After all, it touches upon that most modern and Western phenomenon of family estrangement.

Or, to put it bluntly, cutting off mum and dad. Once a profound social taboo, now becoming alarmingly common.

I believe in being upfront and will state my views on this clearly: the idea that 'blood is thicker than water', that 'you only have one mother/father' and that children must love their parents unconditionally - without exceptions - is utter nonsense.

Do some Millennials and Gen Z – their minds filled with TikTok and therapy – rush into going 'no contact' with their parents, without properly considering just how final and devastating that decision can be? Yes, absolutely.

But I believe they are in the minority.

Most, I'd wager, have thought long and hard about it. And in the majority of cases, it's a last resort to protect themselves from a lifetime of people-pleasing misery.

If you believe that family can act however they please and still expect access to their loved ones' lives simply because they share the same DNA, you're dreaming.

That realisation is perhaps now dawning on Posh and Becks – sorry, Lady Beckham and Sir David – after their eldest son, Brooklyn, went nuclear on Instagram, revealing in eye-watering detail how their relationship imploded.

Putting aside the genuine sadness of it all, it's been the most jaw-dropping celebrity scandal in years – even I was floored, and I've been in this game a long time.

Here's the condensed version: On Monday, Brooklyn launched an extraordinary attack on his famous family, accusing his parents of 'controlling' him.

The 26-year-old said he was standing up for himself 'for the first time in his life'.  

He said Victoria had decided at the 'eleventh hour' not to make Nicola's wedding dress, only to then 'hijack' his first dance with his new wife with an 'inappropriate' routine – in what he called one of the most embarrassing moments of his life.

(As an aside, whoever has footage of that must be sitting on a goldmine...) 

Brooklyn concluded: 'I wake up every morning grateful for the life I chose, and have found peace and relief.

'My wife and I do not want a life shaped by image, press, or manipulation. All we want is peace, privacy and happiness for us and our future family.'

It was confirmation of years of speculation, which began ever since that fateful wedding and only intensified as Brooklyn and Nicola snubbed significant family celebrations, including David's 50th birthday party and knighthood.

So far, the Beckhams have remained tight-lipped. The only glimmer of a response we've had was David saying at the World Economic Forum in Davos that 'children are allowed to make mistakes'.

Firstly, Brooklyn is not a child; he is 26. And secondly, this was no mistake.

Family estrangement rarely happens by accident. Making the decision to cut parents out of your life is not impulsive; it's carefully and painstakingly thought-out, usually over the course of years and years of hurt. The kids who do it – adult kids – are finally sick to death of swallowing their emotional pain and being expected to suck it up because the discord is being caused by the people who raised them. 

I'm sure that Brooklyn – who was just four months old when his parents' wedding was splashed across the pages of OK! magazine – has tried to make things right. Many, many times.

Of course, he's benefited from his family's brand over the years, which has afforded career opportunities as a photographer and a chef, neither of which he was successful at despite the millions of dollars thrown at him.

But does that compensate for the indignity of his 51-year-old mother owning the trademark to the name 'Brooklyn Beckham'? Imagine not even having ownership of your name.

And does it make up for being allegedly 'controlled' his entire life and having his wife be 'consistently disrespected' by his family, or so he claims?

Even if you can't muster any sympathy for Brooklyn and Nicola today, at least acknowledge that growing up as the oldest of the Beckham children can't have been a walk in the park.

He's had to try to find his place in the world as the son of the most famous soccer player to ever live. Imagine attempting any endeavour knowing that, somewhere, someone is quietly measuring you against your father. 

And how can we forget that just as he was starting school, his dad's former PA Rebecca Loos claimed to the press she'd had an affair with the married footballer?

There is an unmistakable irony here in the fact that Brooklyn's devotion to his wife and yearning for privacy have become the very catalysts for him finally drawing a line in the sand with his A‑list father – a man whose early marriage was dogged by allegations of infidelity which he denied – and his spotlight-loving mother, who shed any pretence of privacy the moment she was first photographed on the street.

But in calling out his family for their alleged fakery, Brooklyn has drawn criticism himself. Some are calling him a privileged nepo baby who merely traded his domineering mother for a ball-breaking billionaire wife. 

I'm not one of them.

As deeply cynical as I can be when it comes to the 'woe-is-me' routine of pampered celebrities, I sympathise with Brooklyn. 

I'm on his side because I've walked in his shoes. 

For almost two decades, there are members of my family I've had zero contact with. Unlike Brooklyn, I've chosen not to air my dirty laundry about this, despite my otherwise public life.

While I'll keep the details to myself, let me share this: it's devastating and painful. I'm not blaming anyone, but going no-contact with family is never the first choice we make - it's the last one.

Yet while it's been extremely hurtful, it has brought me the sense of peace that Brooklyn appears to be seeking.

While there was no physical harm or abuse, I'm glad to be rid of the fighting and toxicity that was literally draining the life out of me.

I'm constantly told I'll regret my choice. That I only ever have one family and I'll be sorry if I don't make amends. 

Maybe. But I doubt it.

It's an uncomfortable truth people don't like to hear: sometimes no-contact is the healthiest, most emotionally safe thing you can do for yourself.

Of course, it doesn't make the decision any less taboo: it can be deeply embarrassing to admit to someone that you don't speak to close family. You're judged. If you're the one doing the cutting off, you're seen as callous. If you've been cut off, people inevitably wonder, 'What terrible thing must they have done to deserve that?'

Sometimes, I feel like the villain for saying no-contact is a viable option. I'm sure there are parents desperately seeking to reconnect with their children reading this who must think I'm 'part of the problem'.

But the truth is, estrangement isn't a culture‑war weapon invented by Millennials. It affects families everywhere – famous ones like Brooklyn's and normal ones like mine – and has done for centuries. I've known many Boomers who cut off their parents, but unlike younger generations, they never spoke about it. It was too shameful.

Brooklyn's schism with his family may seem like a soap opera, but it reflects a profoundly tragic reality for millions. If estrangement hasn't touched you, then it has almost certainly affected someone you know.

I saw parts of my own life in his words. 

In the last week, I've spoken to many people disconnected from their families who are thinking the exact same thing: they never thought they'd be cheering on someone like Brooklyn Beckham, yet somehow they are.

Because his story shows that even for the most privileged among us, life can be messy, painful and fraught - even when your parents try to put a perfect filter on it.