Fans of sustainability-focused charity King’s Foundation are buzzing this weekend, after retired football legend David Beckham was announced as its newest ambassador. It’s all a royal chat about the birds and the bees.
Beckham has a wife Victoria Beckham has transitioned from star of the Spice Girls to life as a widely respected fashion designer, retiring as a player in 2013. Since then, he’s been involved in the franchise own the team, get more tattoos, and film yourself doing push-ups only partially clothed. As documented on his Instagram account, he also became a beekeeper.
The athlete is confident enough in his beekeeping duties that at last year’s meet and greet, David Beckham presented King Charles III with a jar of home grown honey. “I made some honey for you. It comes from my bees in Oxfordshire,” the footballer told the King.
“Actually?” Charles replied “Well, I’ll have to exchange it for the one I make.”
That’s right, the King also makes his own honey as he tends the bees at his country home Highgrove House in Tetbury. According to the royal family’s official website, Clarence House is also home to two beehives and Buckingham Palace has four beehives. (You may recall those bee colonies from the headlines of fall 2022, when palace beekeepers John Chapple informed both groups that Queen Elizabeth II had passed away.)
One wonders whether last year’s honey exchange created a bond between the two, as the pair got back together last month at Highgrove Gardens, a statement from the King’s Foundation said. After Beckham witnessed the charity’s “directly impactful educational programs taking place at on-site specialist workshops”, the athlete decided to partner with his charity. Charles, an organization that seeks to combat the climate and natural resource crises through education and training.
“I am delighted to be working with The King’s Foundation and to have the opportunity to help raise awareness of its philanthropy,” Beckham said in a statement. I am always keen to help young people expand their horizons and I am especially keen to support the Foundation’s educational programs and its efforts to ensure that young people have greater access to nature.”
“With my love for the countryside, I also have a personal mission to learn more about rural skills, which is at the heart of the Foundation’s work. It was inspiring to hear His Majesty the King talk about the work of His Majesty’s Foundation during my recent visit to Highgrove Gardens – and compare beekeeping tips!”
Beckham is actively hoping to be knighted. Mirror, so an appointment like this could help push that aspiration forward. Meanwhile, the celebrity tie-up could help rehabilitate the King’s Foundation’s image after the 2021 “cash for access” scandal. As reported by Guardian, a representative of the group—then called the Prince’s Foundation—invited Charles to dinner in exchange for huge donations. Charles was said to have been unaware of the alleged scheme and, following an investigation, the Metropolitan police refused to take action.
This weekend’s announcement adds The King’s Foundation to Beckham’s long list of advertising partners. The celebrity was also announced as the global ambassador for Alibaba-owned e-commerce platform AliExpress last week. According to Guardian“He is also an ambassador for Tudor watches, Tempur mattresses, Unicef and Nespresso coffee machines, and he also fronts Walkers crisps ads.”
