PERUVIAN POSH
I’m sure my powers of prophesy should be applied to more profitable ventures. A few weeks ago I suggested, to anybody prepared to listen, that after the Loos Affair had melted back into the night and the heat had died down, we’d see some extraordinary PR strokes from the Beckham camp as they redefined and fine-tuned the Beckham brand. And, verily, so it came to pass this Sabbath just gone, as an agenda-setting story appeared following a leak to all the Sunday newspapers. A ‘leak’?: A full-blown flush.
The news greeted us over our cornflakes yesterday that Mother Beckham had popped down to South America to relaunch herself as a bling Mother Teresa, all for charity and a fly on the wall. Victoria, it transpired, had flown to Lima, the capital of Peru, and spent 36 hours in the poverty-stricken Las Lomas de Carabayllo district on a project run by a British charity, Childhope UK. A spokeswoman for Sport Relief, who arranged the Project, explained
‘She went to Peru to help make a documentary explaining where donors’ money is being spent.’ According to reports, she ‘joined families for meals and helped them wash their clothes’, as well as learning how children scavenge through litter looking for things to sell. I could make snide remark – it’s a perfect opportunity – but I won’t.
The reason the news didn’t get out sooner is because, on her one night in Peru, Victoria is understood to have stayed at a local hotel under a false name, accidently remaining completely anonymous – which can’t have been the idea at all. Proves one thing: celebrities can sometimes work too hard to keep coups like this quiet
Of course, after a few phone calls local reporters eventually became aware of her presence and the Peruvian paparazzi obligingly chased her car to the airport when she left.
‘It was complete mayhem,’ said one. ‘We never have people like that coming here. They all think it is far too dangerous. The kids at the project were more surprised than anybody.’
As a news creation stunt, quickly staged before the fast-approaching isomorphic Bank Holiday next week, and also nipping in ahead of the official launch of the new Big Brother series, this event had the touch of a master. The decision to give an interview to the women’s glossy Marie Clare was predictable, only because it was assured that we would have a set of fabulous new Posh poses and some neat and controlled soundbites about her husband’s alleged affairs for the first time. Victoria strongly defended David over allegations that he was unfaithful to her. She said
‘I know my David’s never cheated on me’, according to the reports. ‘He’s done nothing wrong. He’s not the sort of man who goes out and gets drunk, has loads of women around him and stays out all night. That’s not him.’ Well who was it then?
The feeding frenzy’s begun but there‘s time for the dust to settle before Becks takes to the Euro Championship battlefield against the French in the Portuguese sunshine. Now this will be a real test of the brand and might finally define he new profile following the shenanigans with his lusty former ‘Personal Assistant’ Rebecca Loos.