Victoria Beckham at 50: ‘Ageing? It is what it is’

Victoria Beckham opens up about turning 50. Image: Getty

In 1994, a 20-year-old woman from Goffs Oak, Hertfordshire answered an advertisement in a British entertainment newspaper for girls who were “street smart, extroverted, ambitious and able to sing and dance”. She was known then as Victoria Adams, but after a successful audition, and a hit first single, Victoria became famously and internationally known as ‘Posh Spice’.

Victoria, along with her fellow Spice Girls – Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton, Melanie Brown and Melanie Chisholm – became a global phenomenon overnight. Her marriage in 1999 to England’s favourite son, soccer star David Beckham, ensured A-List status and global intrigue would last well beyond the day Posh put down the microphone and packed away her platforms for the final time.

However, life wasn’t always easy for the genetically and financially blessed couple. Before the word had even entered common vernacular, Victoria endured extreme trolling from football fans and the tabloid media. Headlines painted the pop star as selfish, diva-like and responsible for ruining David’s career.

In a 2023 Netflix documentary, Beckham, which charted her husband’s journey from promising young player to one of the world’s greatest footballers, viewers got an insight into what life was really like for the couple that lived their entire relationship in the spotlight and were subject to scrutiny at every step (and misstep).

The four-part series was viewed for 208.5 million hours across the world, the couple were warmly received by audiences and Victoria was largely praised for her role as a wife, mother, accomplished businesswoman and surprisingly, comedian. No one was more shocked by the public’s positive response than Victoria.

“David and I have both been kicked so much in the past, so to get to the point where people go, actually, ‘You go’, ‘Good on you’, is a nice surprise. But it was never about trying to be perfect,” Victoria said in an interview with The Times.

Much has been made about her signature pout over the decades, and with wry self-awareness, Victoria is very much in on the joke. When asked by Vogue in 2015 about why she is never smiling in paparazzi pictures, she retorted, “I’m smiling on the inside, but I feel that I have a responsibility to the fashion community.”

On another instance, she explained, “I smile in family pictures. When you’re in a position to be paparazzi-ed just walking down the street, you’d look a little daft if you were smiling all the time.”

But Victoria certainly has plenty to smile about these days, and she is no longer hiding her happiness. “I looked at some pictures of myself recently and was really struck by how happy I looked,” she told The Times

It’s a narrative she’s finally flipped – at 50 – having reached the milestone birthday in April this year. The mother of four celebrated by having a family dinner, as well as a star-studded party that included famous friends such as Tom Cruise, Eva Longoria, Gordon Ramsay, and her fellow Spice Girls, who sang an impromptu rendition of their song ‘Stop’ on the dance floor.

“I’m excited about the future,” she said ahead of her birthday. “The thing with ageing is that it is what it is. I always remember Marc Jacobs saying to me when he turned 60 that it was better than the alternative of not turning 60. It’s good advice! But generally I feel good about things. I have better opportunities now than I did when I was younger