From an unlikely meeting and THAT lavish wedding to matching outfits and ... trends now

Victoria Beckham has celebrated her 50th birthday, sparking a flurry of sweet social media tributes from her family and celebrity pals alike.

While many still know the designer for her evolution from popstar to fashion mogul, she's also proven to have one of the most enduring marriages in showbusiness.

Married to retired footballer and global superstar David Beckham, the couple's relationship has been rock-solid since they tied the knot 24 years ago.

While it began on unlikely ground, the couple have swerved the woes that end many a celebrity romance, and embraced family life with their four children - Brooklyn, 25, Romeo, 21, Cruz, 19, and Harper, 12.

So, as Victoria reaches a new decade decade, with plenty of lavish celebrations in the pipeline, MailOnline takes a look back at how the pair's love story has won over the nation...

Where it all began...

Victoria and David first met back in 1997, when she came to watch the then-Manchester United star play.

David himself shared their sweet moment during an appearance on the Ellen Degeneres Show, saying: 'She came to a football match—soccer match—and I said hi from across the room and that was it. 

'I thought I’d missed my chance, and then a week later she turned up at another football match. She had a few to drink, and she gave me her number.'

Victoria also recalled the meeting in a letter for her 18-year-old self in Vogue, writing: 'While the other football players stand at the bar drinking with their mates, you will see David standing aside with his family. 

'(He’s not even in the first team at this stage—you are the famous one.) And he has such a cute smile. You, too, are close to your family, and you will think how similar he feels to you.'

Soon after Victoria and David met at the match, the couple went on their first date, and just one year later, in January 1998, they announced they were engaged.

At the time it was considered the definition of an A-List love story, with David one of the biggest stars for England and Manchester United, and Victoria a member of The Spice Girls. 

Speaking about the proposal, Victoria said at the time: 'We'd already looked at a few rings but I didn't know which one he had chosen. I'd told him what my dream ring would be. He remembered and had it specially made for me'.

The proposal came when they checked into a hotel after a Manchester United game, after which Victoria was presented with 30 roses before being escorted to their room which was packed with £200 worth of red and yellow lillies.

The duo slipped into bath robes, ordered dinner and champagne and David popped the question much to Victoria's utter delight.

In the book Arise Sir David Beckham: Footballer, Celebrity, Legend, it was reported Victoria said: 'We were sitting there in our dressing gowns when David pulled out the ring, got down on one knee and said, 'Will you marry me, Victoria?''

David meanwhile said: ''I wasn't at all nervous about getting engaged, we'd decided a while ago we would make it official this weekend. I got the ring and was really looking forward to it. But when the moment came there were a few butterflies.'

The couple swiftly called a press conference where Victoria flashed her bling and told the gathered media at Rookery Hall hotel in Nantwich.: 'I am the happiest girl on the world today. I'm with the man I know I'm going to grow old and wrinkly with.'

Their family begins

Mere months before the couple became Mr and Mrs Beckham, David and Victoria welcomed their first child together, son Brooklyn.

He was born at London's Portland Hospital in London and t is often reported that he was named Brooklyn because he was conceived in NYC. 

Despite the frequent reports, in Victoria's 2001 biography, Learning To Fly, Victoria insisted she simply liked the name. She wrote: 'We already knew he was a boy and so I knew he could end up a footballer, so it had to be a name that was a bit bloke.

'I had always liked the name Brooke and then we suddenly thought about Brooklyn. I'd always like it as a place – it's very multi-cultural, very grounded.

'And it was only afterwards that I realised how appropriate it was because it was in NYC that I found out I was pregnant and where David came after the World Cup.'

As the eldest of the Beckham, Brooklyn has been carving out a career of his own, pursuing his passion for cooking by sharing videos of his creations on social media.

He also followed in his parents footsteps with a celebrity partner of his own, marrying actress Nicola Peltz in a multi-million pound ceremony in 2022. 

A wedding for the ages

David and Victoria's big day couldn't have been more lavish, with the couple exchanging their vows at Luttrellstown Castle in Ireland in 1999 in front of their famous friends and family.

As part of their marital shoot, the couple were famously pictured sitting on a pair of matching golden thrones during the day. 

The power couple hired Bentley's Entertainments, organisers of Elton John's birthday as well as Princess Anne's 40th, to mastermind the highly-publicised showbiz event.

Their picturesque Irish venue sat on 560 acres and dated back to the 18th century, with organsier Peregrine Armstrong-Jones telling OK! how 'Victoria wanted somewhere really private and unique, somewhere leafy and green'.

She had hired Simon Lycett, who worked on the 90s rom-com Four Weddings And A Funeral, to set up the floral arrangements - complete with fresh apples which had been pierced and dotted around the castle in order to discharge the scent of fruit.

With David rocking up in a £230,000 Bentley Azure wearing a cream suit designed by Timothy Everett, Victoria sported a Vera Wang dress as she rode in style in a Bentley Arnage.

She commanded attention in a diamond-and-gold crown, which was custom-built by Slim Barrett who had previously crafted accessories for Princess Diana.

Matching wardrobes

While both Victoria and David are no stranger to making headlines with their designer wardrobes, during the early years of their romance the couple became known for their combined looks.

Things began at the Versace Club Gala Party in June 1999, when they hit headlines for sporting matching head-to-toe leather ensembles designed by Gucci. 

Speaking about the ensembles last year, Victoria said: 'I mean it haunts me. It does haunt me, but I love it. It was hot. We were wearing Gucci...

'It was a Versace dinner, which was inappropriate in itself. But we really considered those outfits. We really thought about it. There was a naivety to it that was just so sweet.'

When asked in 2021 why they wore matching looks, she explained: 'It just seemed like a really good idea at the time. t really did...

'I think there was a naiveté then, we didn’t know about fashion. We were just having fun with it, which to be honest with you, is kind of the way it should be. I really wish I had the courage to do it more now.'

At the 2003 MTV Movie Awards in LA the couple sported matching white ensembles while they recently joked when they 'accidentally' wore double denim. 

Lavish abodes

As newlyweds David and Victoria constructed their abode in the leafy green county of Hertfordshire so grand that it was dubbed Beckhingham Palace — worth an estimated £7.5 million. 

The duo purchased the 12 acre estate just three months after their wedding. 

In 2013 the house went up for sale when they opted to relocate to Kensington and they sold up in 2014, when insurance tycoon scooped the home for £11.5million. 

Neil Utley, the chairman of Hastings Direct, also picked up an Aston Martin and two Jaguars as part of the deal. 

The couple are believed to have pooled the cash from the property as well as from the sale of a number of their luxury cars, to buy their £45million mansion in London. 

In recent years the couple appeared to be pining for a country bolthole, and in 2016 they purchased a lavish mansion in The Cotswolds for a reported £6.15 million.

Viewers got an glimpse into the Soho Farmhouse-inspired home as part of their new Netflix docuseries Beckham - where the couple showed off their very expensive taste and eye for classic designers, hardwood flooring and exposed brick walls.

After the Beckhams' improvements, the property boasts a sauna, plunge pool, football pitch, gym, swimming pool and £50,000 safari tent in the grounds for entertaining. It is now thought to be worth about £12 million.

'This is such a step away from any kind of footballer’s home cliché, it’s beautifully curated, smart and yet not flashy,' interiors expert Benji Lewis told MailOnline.

Expanding their family...

In 2002, Victoria and David welcomed their second son Romeo to the world. 

A smiling David emerged from the hospital near Regent's Park to tell the waiting media the news. Flanked by his personal assistant, he told reporters: 'We've had a little boy called Romeo.'

Asked about the birth, David said that he had been present and the experience had been nerve-wracking: 'It's always nervous having children but it's the most beautiful thing in the world. (Victoria's) great. She's sitting up in bed. The family are here...

'He looks like Brooklyn. He's got Brooklyn's nose and Victoria's chin'. 

The private hospital,

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