Feb 27 2005
By Suzanne Kerins :
SundayMirror
Lonely Victoria 'can't hack' life in Madrid... David says he just wants his wife to be happy...
VICTORIA Beckham is ready to quit Spain and return to Britain... WITHOUT her husband.
The former Spice Girl - who gave birth to third son Cruz a week ago - is fed up with living in Madrid and wants to return to Beckingham Palace.
David, 29, is supporting her decision, but he loves playing for Real Madrid and life in Spain so he will split his time between Spain and England.
Last night a friend said: "Victoria has really tried to get used to life in Spain for David's sake. But she can't hack it. She just doesn't enjoy living so far away from her family. She wants to come home."
Victoria is planning a lavish party to celebrate her 31st birthday on April 17 at Beckingham Palace in Sawbridgeworth, Herts - to mark her homecoming.
The friend added: "David is being understanding. He adores his wife and wants whatever will make her happy. But Victoria knows how much David loves playing for Real. They know they will have to have a long-distance relationship again - just like it was for much of the time David was at Manchester United.
"Victoria is certain they can still be happy - despite being based in different countries."
But other friends fear for the couple's five-and-a-half-year marriage when Victoria returns to England. She only moved to Spain last August after David's alleged affair with PA Rebecca Loos. But she has failed to settle, even while living in the family's beautiful £5million mansion in the city.
She is desperately lonely and missing close friends like Maria Louise Featherstone and her parents Tony and Jackie, sister Louise and brother Christian.
She also feels like a housewife in Madrid while - despite announcing she was giving up on a solo pop career - she remains very career-minded.
A source added: "Unlike David, Victoria doesn't really have any friends out in Spain." She has always been very family-orientated and wants to be near them. She also wants her children to be educated in Britain."
The friend said: "She feels restless and unfulfilled. Taking a back seat is not in Victoria's nature. She loves being married to David, but she still wants to be recognised for doing something in her own right."
David is understood to be sympathetic towards his wife's feelings. The friend said: "He's the one who wanted them to move lock, stock and barrel to Spain. But now he just wants Victoria to be happy, even if it means her moving back to Britain. A long-distance relationship won't be easy but David is devoted to Posh and his boys - so he's prepared to commute."
Signs of Victoria's unrest were on display during her stay in hospital last week.
Here we publish the first pictures of her £750-a-night private suite at the Ruber Internacional Hospital. We reveal how Victoria ordered a thorough security sweep of her room before sleeping there - and how bodyguards checked staff for camera phones before letting them into her room.
The Beckhams went to extraordinary lengths to throw a cloak of secrecy over the arrival of Cruz last Sunday morning. The family's minders watched over Victoria round the clock. One bodyguard was posted at the entrance to the maternity ward. Another sat on a chair outside Victoria's room. A third watched over Cruz when he was in the neo-natal room.
A media blackout was soon put in place following a brief hospital statement confirming the birth - and David's presence.
Nevertheless we can reveal that Victoria stayed in hospital room Number 10.
It's the same room that Spain's Princess Elena - the daughter of King Juan Carlos - used after giving birth to her two children.
The room is divided by a glass panel and adjoining door. On Sunday night Victoria slept in a single bed in one half of the room while David - worried about security - catnapped on a sofa in the other half of the room.
The couple's au pair and sons Brooklyn, five, and Romeo, two, visited Victoria but spent the night at their home in Madrid.
David and Victoria had wanted to hire the whole floor, but the hospital refused. The source said: "Princess Elena didn't have the whole floor to herself and hospital bosses felt it wasn't right for Posh to get special treatment.
"She stayed in the best suite but it's still very simple and a far cry from the luxury I'm sure she is used to. There isn't a single picture on the wall - just a wooden Holy Cross."
Victoria was also given her own private garden but none of the family used it because of the wintry conditions.
A chef, who previously worked at Madrid's five- star Westin Palace Hotel, was on hand to cook for the Beckhams. But although the finest steaks had been brought in for the occasion, David chose to eat cheese and bacon sandwiches.
Meanwhile Victoria stuck to fruit which she had specially brought in from the grocer in Madrid favoured by the Spanish Royal Family. The insider revealed: "She ate kiwis and strawberries and washed them down with bottles of mineral water."
Days after the birth, Becks appeared alongside Jennifer Lopez and Beyonce Knowles in Madrid as part of their contracts with Pepsi.
But the source revealed: "Becks drank Coca Cola with his sandwiches which is ironic considering he is being paid millions of pounds to front Pepsi's new ad campaign."
The evening after Cruz was born, beer and champagne were ordered in. Family and friends, including the couple's parents and Victoria's sister helped celebrate Cruz's arrival.
Victoria was due to have had her caesarean last Friday but the birth was brought forward when the date was leaked to the public. The source said: "The hospital was told of the change of plans just two days before the baby was born.
"Victoria was then due to go to the hospital last Sunday at 8am but changed it again to 6am because there was another leak.
"Hospital staff only just had time to put a fresh coat of paint on so the clinic would look nicer in photographs."
