As David Beckham’s 50th birthday celebrations are overshadowed by a rift with his eldest son Brooklyn, a family friend has pleaded with them to lay down their arms.

Adee Phelan, who was the former England captain’s hairdresser when he sported some of his most distinctive styles, says they should follow the examples of Oasis rock stars Liam and Noel Gallagher, who ended their long-running and highly acrimonious feud to reform their band and go on tour again.

‘Blood is thicker than water,’ Adee tells me. ‘You’ve only got to look at Oasis. That is a perfect example of falling out of touch, becoming very distant, but the love and blood always comes through in the end.’

Referring to Brooklyn Beckham, 26, he says: ‘[For David] it’s his first born, it will come around again. There is too much love for it not to. I can’t see the feud lasting.’

Adee first met Brooklyn when he was a toddler while styling Beckham for a memorable GQ magazine shoot with photographer David LaChapelle. Beckham was on the magazine cover with a Mohican hairstyle during the 2002 World Cup.

‘At the shoot, Brooklyn was there,’ Adee recalls. ‘I remember vividly, he was a little nipper and David was completely devoted to him.’ Speaking of the feud, he says: ‘For the average family, you fall out with your son or daughter, your mum gets around the table and goes, “Please make up, it’s not good for your dad”.

‘But here we are talking about a super-family. A family that is shooting campaigns and working on massive franchises and massive companies. They are like any other family, they grieve, they mourn, but from what I’ve seen, from when I worked with him, he is close and loving to that little boy.’

The feud has pitted Brooklyn and his wife, aspiring actress Nicola Peltz, 30, on one side, and the rest of the family on the other. Brooklyn and Nicola have been absent from all his father’s parties, in France, London and the Cotswolds.

Among the various conspiracy theories that have sprung up to explain their absences, some have centred on Romeo’s girlfriend, DJ and entrepreneur Kim Turnbull, 25, who was previously a friend of Brooklyn.

Tilbury and McCartney’s mega Met Party

They’ve been in the same circles for many years and finally fashion designer Stella McCartney and make-up ‘guru’ Charlotte Tilbury have joined forces.

The pair gave a late-night Met Gala 2025 afterparty at Zero Bond in New York, in collaboration with Bombay Sapphire.

‘Stella and I have all the same friends, and we’re always at the same parties, so we thought, “Why not just get together and throw one big, fabulous bash?”’ says Charlotte, who built herself a billion-pound beauty empire.

The pals, who have a combined net worth of more than £400 million, both made a leggy appearance in black dresses as they posed for a picture in front of a neon sign saying, “Let’s Stellabrate Darlings!” I’m sure they did.

Sir Trevor: Prince Harry misjudged comment

Sir Trevor McDonald said earlier this year that it was ‘a great shame’ Prince Harry had quit the Royal Family.

The veteran ITV newsreader does, however, have reservations about the Duke of Sussex’s speculation about King Charles’s health on the BBC, saying: ‘I don’t know how much longer my father has.’ ‘[The duke] needed just a phrase, to say, “I hope he lives to be 100”, or something,’ Sir Trevor tells me at The Oldie’s luncheon at the National Liberal Club, where he was promoting his book, On Cricket. Asked if the comment was misjdudged, the broadcaster says: ‘Just a little bit.’

A ‘wholesome’ Lennox hen do!

Hen parties tend to be raucous affairs but Eurythmics star Annie Lennox’s daughter Lola is bucking the trend.

Lola, 34, who is due to marry Canadian musician Braeden Wright, 36, held what she describes as a ‘wholesome’ party at The Wolseley in Mayfair.

Lola, who’s a singer like her mother, wore a cream sequinned dress and bridal veil in photos that she posted online. ‘We swapped heartfelt and ridiculous stories, and I left on Cloud Nine from all of the kind words of affirmation,’ says Lola, whose father is Annie’s ex-husband, Uri Fruchtmann.

Raised in London with her sister, model and artist Tali, Lola splits her time between London and Los Angeles.

Embroiled in a bitter feud with fellow Monty Python members over management of the comedy troupe’s affairs, Eric Idle now complains he’s been excluded from 50th anniversary celebrations for the classic movie, Monty Python And The Holy Grail. 

The film is back in cinemas, and when Idle is asked by a fan online why he doesn’t appear in a new introduction along with fellow Pythons, he bitterly says: ‘As usual I wasn’t asked…you have no idea.’

Matters came to a head last year when Idle bemoaned the state of Python’s finances, now managed by fellow member Terry Gilliam’s daughter Holly. Eric snapped: ‘I guess if you put a Gilliam child in as your manager you should not be so surprised. One Gilliam is bad enough.’

The Marchioness of Bath, also known as former Strictly contestant Emma Weymouth, is taking recycling to extreme lengths. She’s using note paper made from koala dung at her stately home Longleat’s wildlife park in Wiltshire. ‘I write my shopping on this poo paper in the kitchen and I give it for presents as well,’ she tells forthcoming Channel Five documentary, Inside Longleat.

Richard E Grant, whose beloved wife of 35 years, Joan Washington, died from cancer in 2021, is sick of those who expect him to ‘move on’ with his life.

‘When people have said to me, “Oh, you get over it in time”, I really object to that,’ the Withnail and I star tells the Ruthie’s Table 4 podcast.

Furiously, he recalls: ‘Somebody said to me the other day, “It’s been five years, Richard, and you’ve got to move on, you’ve got to man up and start dating other people”.

‘I’ve never wanted to get over it. It’s a navigation around it on a daily basis – that’s the way that I’ve coped with it.’