Why did it take so long to give David Beckham his knighthood?

Arise, Sir Goldenballs. Next week, David Beckham will finally become Sir David in the King’s birthday honours, which in turn will mean that his wife will become Lady Victoria Beckham. Once, when she was best known for being the pop songstress Posh Spice – and he was most famous for being an unusually petulant Manchester United footballer – this would have seemed like a ridiculous state of affairs; the monarchy pandering to celebrity at its most naked and obvious. It may be a sign of how Britain, rather than the Beckhams, has changed over the intervening decades that the only observation that many might have about the award is why it has taken so long to be bestowed.

Beckham has certainly put the hours in. Not since Mohamed al-Fayed’s (doomed) attempts to obtain a British passport has anyone so assiduously cultivated a friendship with the royal family in order to achieve their desires.