’Looking like a lord’: David Beckham’s ‘smug’ smile at state banquet and what it means for his knighthood dreams

David Beckham and his wife Victoria Beckham were among the esteemed guests at the state banquet King Charles III hosted for the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani at Buckingham Palace on Dec. 3. As they were walking through the East Gallery looking calm and confident, the former football player was seen flashing what a body language “expert” said was a “smug smile,” which potentially hints at his royal future.

“Expert” Judi James told Metro UK that David’s “closed-lip smile here suggests he just-scored-a-hat-trick levels of smug as he walks the red carpet at the Palace. He clearly relishes the moment, looking around during the slow, stately walk, and even throwing a confident eyebrow flash of greeting to someone to his right.”

She added: “He has the look of a man who is where he wants to be and, in terms of that knighthood he has yearned for so long, he seems to be creating future history by looking like a lord before he actually has the title, just to show how good a fit it might be.”

Meanwhile, the 49-year-old was described in royal circles as “the perfect guest” at the banquet not only because of his growing closeness to Charles, but because of his connection to Qatar — he was a paid ambassador for the 2022 Qatar World Cup. As such, his presence at the event stirred speculations that he may finally get that knighthood he wanted in the New Year’s Honors List on global sport and fashion icon, in honor of his charity work across the globe, despite previously sharing in expletive-riddled leaked emails that he “didn’t care about being knighted.”

In 2017, David made headlines with his furious rants against the Honors Committee, which he branded as “unappreciative c***s” after the group allegedly rejected him for an OBE, or Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. He wrote: “I expected nothing less. It’s a disgrace to be honest and if I was American I would of got something like this 10 years ago.”

David even singled out singer Katherine Jenkins who received the honor, writing: “For what? Singing at the rugby and going to see the troops.” But he later claimed that the emails were doctored and so they were fake.

An OBE is the second highest ranking Order of the British Empire award the monarch bestows on subjects who have made a significant impact in their field, be it at a local or national level. It’s given to honor their notable contributions in a specific area of activity. David received his OBE in 2003 from the late Queen Elizabeth II  for his services to football in the Queen’s Birthday Honors List. But he’s reportedly still gunning for that knighthood, and former royal butler Paul Burrell believes getting invited to his first state banquet is a fast track to his dreams.

“David Beckham is everywhere. He’s sponsoring and commercializing himself,” he said (David is also celebrity ambassador for Charles’ charity, The King’s Foundation). Burrell added: “He’s obviously been fast tracked for a knighthood, but not just yet and they’re keeping him just dangling for a while. Because, you know, they’re waiting to see what happens.” Burrell noted of David: “He is an excellent ambassador, not only for charitable foundations, but for our country. I think he’s shown his worth, and I’m expecting it. Of course it’s going to happen. The question is, when.” Well, we’ll just have to wait and see when this will happen, and whether Golden Balls will even be knighted at all.