David Beckham kisses daughter Harper, 12, on sweet mini-break after riling fans

David Beckham has risked the wrath of the Internet police again by planting a kiss on daughter Harper’s cheek in a holiday snap he shared on Instagram.

Former England captain Becks treated his youngest to a festive trip to New York City earlier this week with the pair enjoying an ice skating session and a climb to the top of the famous Rockefeller Center tower where they gazed out over Central Park. Further pics saw David, 48, and Harper, 12, visit Katz’s Delicatessen for a “mile-high sandwich” before the former showed a sweet sign of affection as the duo wrapped up warm in the winter sun.

It appears David has chosen to ignore past criticisms after several images over the years of him kissing the youngster on the lips caused a backlash amongst his followers. The star was labelled “weird” and “disgusting” by some for doing so in 2018, but was vehemently defended by others who hailed the “importance of showing affection” towards your children.

I tried on gorgeous velvet dresses at Nobody’s Child and I predict one will be a Christmas sell out

The pair took in the sights of New York City on a special daddy-daughter trip ( 
Image:
Instagram/ @davidbeckham)
Five years on, in pictures which Becks captioned, “Fun few days in NYC #HarperSeven”, there appears to be no such negativity though with scores of the stars 86 million followers gushing over their daddy-daughter bond. One fan declared: “Setting the bar high @davidbeckham and love it 🙂 this is how every day should be with their baby girls having a man that shows what real love is.”

Another wrote: “Making beautiful memories. Every child deserves a dad like this showing true love and giving absolute one on one time. Happy Christmas to you both.” A third added: “Harper’s growing up in front of our eyes! What wonderful parents you guys are.” And a fourth said: “I love that picture it is an iconic picture, amazing. Plus, the two of you look so happy. Love that.”

Previous snaps of Becks kissing his youngest have caused a social media backlash ( 
Image:
Instagram/ @davidbeckham)
Back in 2017, David was forced to defend kissing his children after receiving criticism from fans. Speaking to followers, he said: “We want to show our kids love. I got criticised for kissing my daughter on the lips the other day. I kiss all my kids on the lips. Brooklyn, maybe not. Brooklyn’s 18, he might find that a little bit strange.”

He added: “But I’m very affectionate with the kids. It’s how I was brought up and Victoria, and it’s how we are with our children. We want to show our kids love and we protect them, look after them, and support them, and you know, we’re very affectionate with them.”

Piers Morgan later described Becks’ actions as “weird” in a chat on Good Morning Britain, however. “Why would a father kiss his daughter on the lips?” he asked. “Don’t get it. Creepy. Weird. Creepy. No one does that. You post that to the world, but why?” Piers – who has three sons and a daughter – continued muttering: “Weird, weird, weird.”