EXCLUSIVE: 'Scheming' David Beckham on 'Desperate Quest for Knighthood Before King Charles Dies' as He Sucks Up to Royals at Buckingham Palace

Soccer royalty David Beckham has gone into overdrive to net a knighthood from his new best pal King Charles after being snubbed for years.

The former England captain and now owner of MLS side Inter Miami attended his first-ever state banquet at Buckingham Palace in London with his fashion designer wife Victoria to help welcome a delegation of Qataris to Britain, RadarOnline.com can reveal.

The former Manchester United legend, 49, and ex-Spice Girl, 50, were invited to the lavish dinner thanks to David's $200m role as a sporting ambassador in the Arab state and his new status as the King's pal.

Becks has been buddying up to Charles and the cancer-stricken King, 76, recently made him an ambassador of one of his charities and they have bonded over a love of beekeeping.

But a source told us the charm offensive was part of Beckham's knighthood goal.

The mole revealed: "He is eager to bag a knighthood from the King for his services to soccer and his Unicef charity work but concerns about his tax arrangements in the UK have so far prevented him from becoming Sir David.

"But this won't deter David because he's zeroing in on that knighthood and feels one will be coming his way next year. Any chance he gets, he's gonna be sucking up to King Charles. They are getting close.

"They met back in the summer and had a very long chat about their mutual love of beekeeping. David is desperate to become a knight of the realm and his charm offensive with the King certainly won't hinder his case."

The palace dinner came during the first day of the two-day state visit for Qatar.

In a recent book about the star called The House of Beckham it was revealed how his tax affairs while playing for Real Madrid have continually ruined his knighthood bid.

The author wrote: "Legally avoiding British taxes appealed to Beckham. As a non-dom in Spain, he was not paying British taxes on income earned outside Britain. And he was not paying National Insurance.

"The genius of it was that no one in Britain realized that Beckham had become a tax exile. Instead, the public believed that he was a global success who paid his taxes in Britain.

"Partly that was due to sightings of him in London. Legally, he could visit Britain 90 days a year and after five years the annual limit would increase to 120 days."

But the arrangement raised eyebrows with the UK establishment.

He also received a backlash in 2022 when flying to the Qatar World Cup on a multi-million dollar deal because of the country's human rights record, particularly towards women and gay people.

After the football tournament, he defended going over there and said he was "proud" to have been part of the "important competition".

The lavish State Banquet welcomed around 150 guests to the palace ballroom and came at the end of the first day of Qatar's state visit.

The Princess of Wales beamed in her most important public engagement since her cancer diagnosis as she greeted the Amir and wife Sheika Kawaher with Prince William.

They then traveled with them to Horse Guards Parade for a welcome ceremony with King Charles.

Kate joined a carriage procession back to Buckingham Palace, had a private lunch and enjoyed an exhibition of priceless Qatari artifacts.

But she did not go to the State Banquet as she reserved energy for her heartwarming Christmas carol service in Westminster Abbey on Friday.

Meanwhile, Queen Camilla had to pull out of the welcome ceremony but joined the royal party back at Buckingham Palace.

She told guests today that her chest infection had been a form of pneumonia.

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