David & Victoria Beckham attended the state banquet for the Qatari royals

In America, state dinners are often star-studded affairs, especially when a Democrat is president. Hollywood stars and models are often invited to White House state dinners to pretty up the event and provide some juice and charisma for what can be a pretty staid affair. The same is not true of state dinners/banquets in the UK. Even during QEII’s reign, usually only a handful of actors or “celebrities” would be invited to any given state dinner, and usually those celebrities would be much older and connected in some way to the crown.

Charles and Camilla genuinely have celebrity connections through their charities and foundations, so maybe they’re trying to liven up the proceedings. They invited David and Victoria Beckham to last night’s state banquet for the emir of Qatar. According to the Telegraph, the Beckhams’ attendance “was kept secret until the event began.” This was the first time the Beckhams were invited to a state dinner, and the invitation came after years and years of David sucking up to the Windsors and openly lobbying for a knighthood. Just this year, David was named an ambassador to the King’s Foundation AND David had a private meeting with Charles at Highgrove. David also did the bizarre appearance alongside Prince William at the air ambulance thing.

Interestingly, Beckham was probably invited because of Qatar’s investment in football too. The 2022 World Cup was held in Qatar and Beckham was an ambassador for that. The palace also invited Nasser Al-Khelaifi, president of Paris Saint-Germain, and the Beckhams were seated with him. The Telegraph also notes that Victoria and David were not seated side-by-side, and they were on opposite sides of the table.

I’m also adding photos of Princess Anne and the Duchess of Edinburgh. Anne looks like she’s wearing a sofa. Sophie’s dress is Suzannah, and she wore her usual diamond-and-aquamarine tiara. Honestly though, Victoria’s dress is pretty bad too.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.