For millions of people, it still feels like David and Victoria Beckham’s children should be little.
But on September 1, their second son, Romeo Beckham, celebrated his 24th birthday — and his parents marked the occasion by opening up the family photo albums.
David, 51, and Victoria, 52, both shared collections of photographs spanning Romeo’s life, including childhood pictures that immediately had longtime followers reminiscing about the years when the Beckham children were rarely seen without their famous parents nearby. (aol.co.uk)
And looking at Romeo today, one comparison is particularly hard to miss.
He’s looking more and more like his dad.
From Victoria’s little boy to 24 years old
Romeo James Beckham was born on September 1, 2002, when David was at the height of his football career and Victoria had already made the transition from Spice Girl to one of Britain’s most photographed celebrities.
From the beginning, Romeo grew up in extraordinary circumstances.
His childhood unfolded while photographers followed the Beckham family around the world, from football stadiums and airports to fashion shows and family holidays.
One early photograph shows tiny Romeo sitting in Victoria’s arms at a football match, wearing a bright red jersey with a pacifier in his mouth.
Today, that little boy is 24.
David’s emotional message to his son
David’s birthday tribute included several pictures with Romeo, including nostalgic childhood memories.
But his message focused less on Romeo’s accomplishments and more on the man he has become.
“Happy Birthday mate, we love you so much,” David wrote, saying he was proud of Romeo for being “sweet, kind and just an amazing young man.” (aol.co.uk)
He finished by telling his son that he deserved to have the best day.
It was a surprisingly simple message from one of the most famous fathers in the world.
And Victoria’s was just as personal.
Victoria says Romeo has an even bigger heart than smile
Victoria shared her own selection of photographs and wrote that Romeo has “the biggest smile and an even bigger heart.”
She described him as smart and kind and said the family was incredibly proud of the young man he has become. (aol.co.uk)
Romeo’s younger brother Cruz also joined the birthday celebration, posting a childhood photograph of the two brothers together.
For anyone who followed the Beckhams in the early 2000s, those old pictures are a serious dose of nostalgia.
He followed David into football
With David Beckham as a father, it wasn’t surprising that football became part of Romeo’s life.
Romeo spent time in Arsenal’s academy when he was younger.
Years later, he returned to the sport and played for Inter Miami II, the reserve side associated with the club co-owned by his father.
He subsequently joined Brentford’s B team in England.
For a while, it looked as though another Beckham might be building a professional football career.
But Romeo eventually decided on another path.
And strangely enough, it was a world in which his mother was equally influential.
He traded professional football for fashion
Romeo officially stepped away from professional football in 2024 and increasingly focused on modeling and fashion.
It wasn’t an entirely new direction.
He had already modeled for Burberry as a child, appearing in one of the fashion house’s campaigns when he was only 10.
As an adult, he has continued building a modeling career, appearing in fashion campaigns and at major industry events.
Now another unexpected career move is on the horizon.
Romeo is preparing to make his acting debut in the upcoming tennis romance Forty Love, directed by fashion photographer Pierre-Ange Carlotti. (aol.co.uk)
At 24, he seems to be carving out an identity that’s neither simply David’s football career nor Victoria’s fashion career — but contains a little of both.
But fans still see David when they look at him
As Romeo has gotten older, comparisons with his father have become increasingly common.
There are obvious similarities: the facial structure, smile, hairstyles and shared interest in tattoos and fashion.
Put photographs of David in his twenties beside recent photographs of Romeo and the resemblance can be striking.
But there’s also something wonderfully circular about their story.
David became a global celebrity in his twenties while playing football and experimenting with fashion.
Now his 24-year-old son — after experimenting with professional football — is making his own name in fashion and entertainment.
The Beckham children are all grown up
David and Victoria have four children: Brooklyn, Romeo, Cruz and Harper.
Brooklyn is now 27.
Romeo is 24.
Cruz is 21.
And Harper, once the baby David was frequently photographed carrying in his arms, is now a teenager.
It’s an extraordinary passage of time for people who remember David and Victoria not as parents of four grown and nearly grown children, but as the young football star and Spice Girl whose relationship became one of the biggest celebrity stories of the late 1990s.
Romeo’s birthday photos bring those years rushing back.
One absence from the birthday tributes was noticeable
There is, however, a more complicated chapter in the Beckham family’s current story.
Brooklyn Beckham did not publicly post a birthday message to Romeo as the family’s widely reported estrangement continues. (aol.co.uk)
Brooklyn publicly addressed the dispute in January 2026, making serious allegations about his relationship with his parents and defending his wife, Nicola Peltz Beckham.
David and Victoria have largely avoided publicly engaging with the specific allegations. Victoria has instead emphasized how deeply they love their children and how they have always tried to be good parents. (aol.co.uk)
That makes this year’s family celebrations somewhat bittersweet.
Still, David and Victoria’s messages to Romeo were overwhelmingly focused on pride, affection and childhood memories.
24 years disappeared remarkably quickly
One photograph shows a tiny Romeo in his mother’s arms.
Another shows him laughing beside David.
Then suddenly, the childhood photographs give way to the man he is today.
He’s modeled for major fashion brands, tried professional football, collected tattoos, traveled the world and is now preparing to add acting to his résumé.
Yet David and Victoria’s birthday messages barely mentioned any of that.
Instead, both parents praised his kindness.
Perhaps that’s what makes the photographs resonate beyond the celebrity factor.
Strip away the football trophies, Spice Girls fame and fashion campaigns, and they’re essentially two parents looking through old photographs and wondering how their little boy became 24 so quickly.
And for fans who have watched the Beckham family since the beginning, Romeo’s transformation is a pretty convincing reminder that those 24 years went by just as quickly for the rest of us. (aol.co.uk)
For more sweet celebrity family moments, check out how much Fergie & Josh Duhamel’s son Axl has grown or reminisce about when Sandra Bullock & Nicole Kidman reunited as the Owens sisters.
