I’ve been low-key wondering why the Duke and Duchess of Sussex didn’t pad their tour schedule with more time in Sydney, so they could attend more events with the Invictus Games. During previous Invictus Games, Prince Harry attended many events over the course of the games, but for this year’s Invictus, Harry and Meghan did promotional events ahead of the games, they attended the (rain-soaked and delayed) opening ceremony, and Harry just did appearances on the first day, then he and Meghan moved on to the next part of their tour.
It’s possible that Harry believes that the Invictus Games are so big that he doesn’t have to be there for everything. It’s also possible that he hoped some of the celebrity ambassadors for Invictus would help promote the games during the games. David Beckham is one of the ambassadors. And while David is in Australia now, he hasn’t attended any Invictus events. Why?
David Beckham arrived in Sydney on Sunday to fulfill his duties as an Ambassador for the 2018 Invictus Games. But as of Wednesday, the former footballer has yet to attend a Games event. The sports competition for injured veterans kicked off on Saturday, but 43-year-old David has instead been spending time with his family.
A spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday that David ‘was never planning on attending Invictus until the closing stages.’ They added: ‘He just came out (to Australia) earlier with his family so they could get to know the country.’
David revealed his association with the 2018 Invictus Games back in August, when he shared a touching Instagram post. ‘I’m incredibly proud to announce I will be an Ambassador for this year’s Invictus Games in Sydney. I’ve been lucky enough to meet and work with many serving, veteran and wounded British armed forces personnel over the years and I’ve been humbled by the courage, resilience and spirit shown by each and every one of them.’
I mean… it’s shady, right? The whole thing feels shady. David is THERE. He’s in Sydney already. He’s been in Sydney since Sunday. And he hasn’t attended anything Invictus-related?? What’s the point of having a celebrity ambassador if they don’t show up?? And here’s my question to all of the Oz Celebitches: are the games really big this year? Are they getting a lot of attention? Or did the coverage die out as soon as Meghan and Harry left Sydney?
Photos courtesy of WENN, Instagram.
That does seem strange. Why wouldn’t David attend events?
Eh, because Beckham is a bit of a tw@t…?
And how much you want to be he’ll be writing off this entire trip as a business expense, even though he’s not “doing business” the whole time. I think this family trip is damage control for he “marriage to Victoria is hard work” comment. His midlife crisis is exhausting
Lewis Hamilton was an ambassador for the last games and the same thing happened. He announced it and I don’t recall him doing anything for it ever again. Always thought it was weird.
Just raising awareness of this event.I still believe David will attend,he is retired and in Sydney.But you never know the current David Beckham is having such a midlife crisis,it is possible he will snub everything.
That does seem really weird to me. If he made an appearance at even one event it would probably get a lot of really positive press coverage. Maybe he is waiting for Harry and Meghan to come back so he can get some royal coverage.
So he wanted the shiny, media attention of being linked to this great cause and then could not be buggered to turn up to the low key events. I mean he went all that way so why not attend a few events?
If only Victoria could smile more, he might be a better man /sarcasm
I agree, Zapp. Such celebrities are a disgrace. Get the initial accolades, and then nick off. At the very least, they should have been at the Opening Ceremony and at least one day of events. I loathe these gronky, über-wealthy, doughy sports “stars”; they’ve no idea about what it takes, or means, to shine.
Preach sister. Just looks like a free holiday – as if he cant afford his own….when you think what the Invictus athletes have gone through to get there its a fkn disgrace.
The hair restoration he had done looks AWFUL, like there’s some kind of small animal growing on his forehead. So aging, why????
Ah, it looks as if he brought along Harper’s ferret.
LOL – he looks like Wayne Rooney – as if we need another one …blahhh
I’m in Sydney and I have to say that no, the Invictus Games aren’t a thing. No one I know knows about them or cares in the slightest.
If that is true, that is incredibly sad. People should support the wounded soldiers and veterans not just as a sign of gratitude for the sacrifice and hard work that they do to keep people safe.
The majority of my dad’s side is/was in the army and they had no clue about the Invictus Games. When they found out they pointed out that the fact that there is no press, no word of mouth, nothing to promote what the Invictus Games is about or what the games are for. Those who had heard of it, rolled their eyes because all they saw was a vanity project for a member of the royal family, which is fair because the only time it’s mentioned in the news is as a passing mention during the coverage of Prince Harry and Miracle Meghan’s whirlwind tour, which is depressing af.
Australia doesn’t do soldier worship, we have a much more realistic view of war and the defence forces.
I disagree with Ange – ANZAC Day would show otherwise. Our national identity as a seperate and unique country from the UK originally sprang from the Boer War and the two World Wars and what the soldiers witnessed and discovered about themselves there. We don’t worship WAR but we very much idealise the heroism of our defence forces.
Kaiser – I’m not currently at home as I’m working abroad; but I’ve seen nothing in the Aus press I follow or in my social media feeds of people at home about the Invictus Games. From the comments above I would have to guess that it was poorly promoted and advertised. Seems like Harry, the celebrity ambassadors, and the press team behind the Games have a LOT more work to do since Australia is a sports-mad place.
That isn’t what the ambassador position is for. A brand ambassador for, say, Sephora, wouldn’t show up at the storefront to promote the product. The ambassadors do extra-games work, like fundraising, and drumming up interest in other places *before* the games. His role was purely to make Instagram posts from time to time, and probably to be at the closing ceremonies.
Could it be because of Beckham’s leaked emails last year?
“The leaked emails between Mr Beckham and his publicist Mr Oliveira suggested his attempts to use his charity work were part of a campaign for a knighthood. In one message the 41-year-old former England captain branded the Honours Committee “unappreciative c***s” after missing out on a knighthood in 2013 and dismissed lesser awards, ranting: “Unless it’s a knighthood f*** off”.”
Is there an award for being a prick?….he’d get that.
He would win gold in that category, he is the most arrogant smug git ever.
While Knighthood sound grand to this uninformed American…can someone please explain the significance. (Sure I could wiki it but I prefer the interesting, insightful and sometimes snarky Celebitchy answers better 😉
People believe Victoria is crazy about their brand but it’s mainly him with a crazy PR machine now. He is crazy about getting this knighthood as soon as possible, when everybody knows he is going to get it. He will make the press soon, just watch out. I spoke to one of his family member recently, that person really described me David as a family man. So probably nobody in his family or Victoria family knows David is a serial cheat. When David will be exposed, it is going to destroy his family.
Since Dave Gardner(another serial cheat) joined David management team, his profile has really gone down and David has constantly negative press. Very suspicious. Dave Gardner also enables David bad and reckless behaviour, Victoria dislikes him massively now.
Dave Gardner’s been with Becks since the beginning. I think this has a lot to do with Simon Olieveira being part of the PR and Management team?
Simon Olieveira used to work for Simon Fuller.I am not sure Dave Gardner has ever been so involved in David career.It is the case now and I am not sure it is for the right reason: probably to help him sleep with girls and go to parties.
@Sacha, I think DG has been–he’s practically Becks’ right-hand man. I agree with you that he’s probably an enabler and covering up a lot of the bad behavior.
To be fair, it’s extremely unlikely that anyone related to David or Victoria would do anything but toe the party line in public. A relative of David’s is hardly likely to tell a stranger that he’s not a “family man.”
It was genuine, that person did not know. I 100 % believe David mum does not know, she will never accept her son being a sex pest. I also believe the family of Victoria don’t know, they won’t let her suffer like that. Their kids too don’t know.
All of them have heard the rumors but believe they are false. When David is going to get exposed, it is going to destroy his family. I just feel sorry for all them except David.
@Heather and @Sacha, I feel like Posh’s sister and parents may know/suspect something and are always there as a source of strength for her.
I really detest and take issue with people calling the Invictus Games a vanity project for Harry.
The games seemed to be a big deal in Toronto and Orlando. It’s clear Harry has a bond with many of these families and has done great work to continue bringing light to veterans. In past years he has made trips and done interviews with leaders leading up to the games (his bond with Michelle!). I’m not sure that happened this year and that’s a shame. I hope then games can continue to thrive even as transitions to being a husband and father.
Just saw he has a weird tattoo on the Palm of his hand LOL. David really needs help.
Harry will only attend 3 events and opening/ closing.
David might tally up something similar without the opening in the next couple days.
Sadly these vets deserve so much better from both of these guys!
I agree. I’m disappointed to learn Harry’s presence at the events has taken such a swift nosedive.
Very good question, Kaiser. I’ve also been wondering the same thing. 😀
I think he’s there to also do things for his other brands like House99 and Haig Club. So, yeah, he’ll probably write this off as a business expense. Is it so hard to just pay for it by yourself when you have a lot of money?
Anyway, I’m glad that Posh went on the trip and they got to do things together as a family. Hopefully he spends more time with her and they do things together.
Kudos to Posh for putting up with David.She must really love him because he is trash.
Add: It looks like they must read Celebitchy because DB just posted something on IG stories about when he’ll be at the Invictus Games. 😆
I’ve seen a bit about it purely because I know people working in the games. Overall it’s getting about as much attention as any sporting competition for people with disabilities outside of the Paralympics, which is to say not much, and that’s with a big celebrity ambassador.
Yeah, I’m in Melbourne and I didn’t hear much about it except for H&M tour. I haven’t seen it on TV or anything neither. So not big at all I’d say
Hi all. Am new here. Love this site and the intelligent and interesting comments. And the delicious goss…)
I’m in Sydney and actually I’ve seen quite a lot of coverage of the Invictus games; both associated with the royal tour and separate from it. There seems to be a very positive vibe around it and lots of very warm and appreciative news around Invictus and the veterans involved with the games.
Sure there’s Harry and Meghomania ( we love them) but they have been generally treated really well in the press. I have been very aware of several respectful amd thoughtful pieces on the games amd it’s on TV all day.. But I haven’t heard a single word about Beckham. He doesn’t interest me in the slightest but I haven’t seen a word about his association with Invictus here in Sydney. This was news to me…