claims Becks, 41, sent the messages “in the heat of the moment”.
A source told the paper: “David is just like any normal person and he was extremely disappointed that he wasn’t deemed worthy of becoming a Sir.”
He is said to have insisted: “I don’t care about being knighted.”
A close friend told : “Genuinely, he wasn’t as vitriolic as that, but you do say some things in private and in the heat of the moment.
“To be honest, he does feel that he has given so much to his country. And sometimes you say things in private that anyone would say and you don’t really mean it.”
It comes as police were last night called as the former England captain feared more evelations would emerge from a cache of leaked emails between him and his advisers.
The superstar, whose image was tarnished by messages claiming to show he exploited his charity work as part of an effort to win a knighthood, is now scared about what more will come out.
It was confirmed a police probe had been launched in Portugal, where his PR chief Simon Oliveira’s Doyen firm has its HQ.
Beckham’s representatives have spoken to specialist investigators in Portugal about the shattering leaks.
Former footballer David, pictured with wife Victoria, received an OBE in 2003 Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd Becks blasted the Honours Committee as 'unappreciative c**ts' for not making him a Sir Credit: PA:Press Association Yesterday, as Becks faced a backlash over the scandal, wife Victoria, 42, was spotted at Heathrow as she jetted out of the UK for New York Fashion Week.
The bombshell dossier was obtained by the Football Leaks website and published by European sites including Der Spiegel, L’Equipe and El Mundo.
Beckham’s Unicef 7 fund has raised more than £4.3million since it launched in 2015 — money which has been used to support children all over the world.
More than £500,000 has been sent to train teachers and fund schools in Bangladesh, where around 2.6million children do not regularly go to school.
Another £800,000 has helped support children with disabilities who experience discrimination in central and Eastern Europe.
The fund has also sent money to projects in Latin America and Africa, and Beckham himself visited a centre in Swaziland which supports kids living with HIV.
A police probe had been launched in Portugal, where Beckham's PR chief Simon Oliveira’s Doyen firm has its HQ Credit: UNICEF The dad of four and Unicef ambassador has given more than £1million to the charity Credit: PA:Press Association But emails showed how Beckham, worth an estimated £280million, complained about being approached by Unicef’s ambassador relations manager Chloe Edwards about contributing cash.
Beckham’s team, who have said the emails are hacked and doctored, are focusing on the person behind the leak.
A total of 18.6million emails, communications and documents were accessed from the servers of Doyen Global, the sports management firm run by PR guru Oliveira, 43.
The bombshell material was taken in 2015 and last year, and contains three years’ worth of information.
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