Victoria Beckham is opening up about the difficulties of being a first-time mom in the public eye. Victoria gave birth to her first child with husband David Beckham, their son Brooklyn, 25 years ago before welcoming kids Romeo, Cruz, and Harper. When Brooklyn was born in 1999, Victoria was best known as Posh Spice, and David was one of the biggest soccer players in the world. As a result, major media outlets jumped on her, critiquing her post-baby body as she was just getting her footing as a new mom. Now, she is reflecting back on how those comments affected her in those early days of motherhood.
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Victoria said the reports made it hard to be confident.
“I've had so much said about me and I'm sure that has robbed me of some experiences. I never want to look like I'm complaining, but there were times in my past that I haven't felt confident enough to sit on a bench and watch my children play,” she explained in a new interview with Grazia.
She felt targeted after giving birth to her oldest son, Brooklyn.
“I remember after I had Brooklyn, the first outing was on the front page of the newspaper, with arrows pointing to where I needed to lose weight,” she added. “Those things can affect how you feel and conduct yourself in public. Now, if paparazzi want to take a picture and say something — too bad, it doesn't bother me in the same way.”
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Victoria said people got the wrong impression of her.
In the interview, she also addressed the way she’s always been perceived by the media and how it’s not the way she is in real life.
"For so long people had this opinion of me that I was this steely-faced ice queen because of the paparazzi pictures and the story that the media would paint. Through social media, people now see that that’s not me. I like to laugh at myself," she said.
Victoria prides herself in being a hands-on mom.
In an interview with The Sunday Times published earlier this year, she talked about the hands-on approach she takes to parenting her 12-year-old daughter Harper now that the tween is the only Beckham kid still at home. She described taking Harper to English grocery store Waitrose to get a specific snack.
“I’ve never not done those things, neither has David. They are important,” she said of everyday parenting chores.
It's clear she loves her kids.
Victoria shared a sweet snap of herself with her babies in May to commemorate Mother’s Day in the United States. (Mother’s Day is celebrated in March in the UK) In the photo, she is surrounded by her kids, with youngest son Cruz using his hands to make the number 50.
“Happy US Mother’s Day to all the mother figures out there!! I love you all so much," she captioned the post, tagging each of her children.
