She was crushed when her beloved brother Brooklyn failed to contact her personally on her 14th birthday.
And now Harper Beckham has been left heartbroken once again after turning up at his Los Angeles home – only to find that there was no answer at the gates of his sprawling mansion.
The teenager decided to make the impromptu visit after watching her father David receive the honour of a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Friday.
As ever, the Beckhams were the picture of unity at the event – save for the now familiar absence of Brooklyn, from whom they are estranged.
What no one but the family knew, however, is what Harper was planning once the cameras had stopped flashing. For the moment the event ended, she left father David, mother Victoria and her elder brothers Romeo and Cruz and made the five-mile journey, driven by a chauffeur, to the £14 million Beverly Hills mansion where Brooklyn, 27, lives with his 31-year-old wife Nicola Peltz.
Harper had fervently hoped it would be their first face-to-face encounter for more than 18 months. And it would have been all the more poignant given her approaching birthday, because few know how devastated she was last July when Brooklyn wasn’t around for her 14th.
Harper idolises her eldest brother, but the only contact he had with her, I’m told, was a message he and Nicola posted on Instagram, alongside a picture of the trio, to their combined millions of followers.
On Friday, after realising no one was at home, Harper, still dressed in the £335 pink camisole slip dress from her mother’s clothing range, looked crestfallen before getting back into the waiting car.
To say Harper is devastated that she no longer sees her oldest sibling is an understatement, say friends of the Beckhams
Harper with David and Cruz at her dad’s induction on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles. Brooklyn, unsurprisingly, did not attend
Friends of the Beckhams say that the ongoing devastation of the teenager – who is soon to launch her own beauty range – at the family’s estrangement cannot be underestimated.
‘For the first 12 years of Harper’s life, she was so very close to Brooklyn,’ says a friend. ‘He was 12 himself when she was born and was a very influential person in her life.
‘It doesn’t take much to understand just how devastated Harper is that her big brother is no longer around.’
Of her decision to call at his home unannounced, the friend added: ‘Harper took the opportunity where she could. She’s a savvy young woman and she misses him, so she decided she would stop by and see if she could see him.
‘Sadly for her, nobody was at home. She would give anything to have her brother back, to see him and be able to love him as she used to.’
Tellingly, Harper went alone, with her parents instead heading to see America’s first World Cup game at the SoFi stadium, although sources tell me they supported their daughter’s decision.
Indeed, while David and Victoria have accepted that Brooklyn no longer wants them in his life (he’s made it very obvious from blocking them on social media and posting that statement on Instagram in January), they are heartbroken that other family members have been affected by the rift.
As well as Harper, Brooklyn no longer communicates with his brothers Romeo, 23, and Cruz, 21, while both sets of grandparents –Tony and Jackie Adams and Sandra and Ted Beckham – have also ended up as collateral damage from the feud.
Harper wore a £335 pink cami slip dress from her mother Victoria’s fashion brand at the ceremony
For some time I’ve been told that Brooklyn and Harper don’t communicate over text and I struggled to believe it, writes Katie Hind
It is their daughter, however, that David and Victoria feel for the most. ‘To extend it to Harper is just cruel and totally upsetting,’ the friend says.
Every person I speak to who is connected to the Beckhams say that Harper is a ‘lovely, kind and polite’ young lady who simply loves her family.
She also used to idolise Nicola, viewing her as the older sister she never had.
Friends of the family, however, now believe the daughter of billionaire Nelson Peltz was using Harper for her own reputational gain when she posted affectionate pictures of them together on Instagram.
Either way, it seems that any relationship is now non-existent. I’ve been told for some time that neither Brooklyn, Nicole or Harper communicate over text, but struggled to believe it.
That Harper turned up suddenly at their doorstep unannounced, however, would imply that it is indeed true. As for where the couple were, sources told me that they were ‘out of town’ when Harper visited.
The pair decided to stay on the US’s East Coast after Brooklyn spoke at the Tribeca festival in New York last week.
Harper may be comforted by the fact that there will be plenty of other opportunities to meet her brother should he wish.
It is understood that the Beckhams will be in the US for most of the summer, with David due to attend several World Cup games.
For his own part, Brooklyn apparently insists that he still adores his wider family.
Whether he will find it in his heart to see the younger sister who misses him so much the next time she is on his home turf remains to be seen.
