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David Beckham is set to be awarded a knighthood in King Charles' Birthday Honours.
The former England football captain, 50, was appointed an officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2003.
But BBC Sport has been told he is now in line to receive further recognition for both his football career, and his contributions to British society, with the list of recipients to be published next week.
Beckham played 115 times for his country as well as for Manchester United, Real Madrid, LA Galaxy, Paris St-Germain and AC Milan, retiring in 2013.
Beckham was reportedly first nominated for a knighthood in 2011.
In 2017 several British newspapers printed details of leaked emails in which Beckham allegedly criticised the honours system and the honours committee.
A spokesperson for Beckham said at the time that the emails were "hacked", "doctored" and "private".
The former footballer married singer and fashion designer Victoria Beckham in 1999.
The couple share four children - Brooklyn, Romeo, Cruz and Harper Seven.
Beckham played a key role in securing the London 2012 Olympics, and has been an ambassador for Unicef since 2005.
Unicef - which supports vulnerable children around the world - launched 'The David Beckham Unicef Fund' in 2015 to mark a decade's partnership between the two.
Beckham became an ambassador for The King's Foundation in 2024, supporting King Charles' education programme and efforts to ensure young people have a greater understanding of nature.
He is also part-owner of League Two side Salford City, as well as president and co-owner of Major League Soccer team Inter Miami in the United States.
He helped set-up the Inter Miami CF Foundation - a community driven not-for-profit enterprise that looks to empower underserved communities, using football as a catalyst.
A Government spokesperson said: "We do not comment on speculation on honours."
Beckham's representatives declined to comment.
Beckham's knighthood marks the completion of a reputational rebuild for arguably the UK's most famous living sports star.
Despite his stellar footballing career, charity work and support of the London 2012 Olympic bid, for years there has been speculation that controversy may explain why he kept being overlooked for the honour.
In 2017 leaked emails that Beckham had allegedly written appeared to reveal his frustration at missing out on a knighthood.
A spokesman for the star at the time said the story was based on "outdated material taken out of context".
In the same year he was among a number of celebrities embroiled in a tax case having invested in the Ingenious film financing scheme.
However, in 2021 it was reported, external he was deemed eligible for a knighthood after having his finances cleared.
Yet still his wait continued. In 2022 Beckham was widely criticised for his decision to accept millions of pounds from the Qatari regime as a World Cup ambassador, and associating himself with a country accused of human rights abuses and where same-sex relationships are illegal. Beckham had posed for the cover of Attitude magazine in 2002, saying he was honoured to be called a gay icon.
Comedian Joe Lycett appeared to destroy £10,000 of his own money in a protest against Beckham's role with the tournament.
Beckham later defended himself, saying he was "proud" to be part of the event, and a spokesman added that it was "a positive that debate about the key issues has been stimulated. We hope that these conversations will lead to greater understanding and empathy towards all people, and that progress will be achieved".
Later that year however, the patriotism for which Beckham had become known was praised after queuing for 12 hours to see the Queen lying in state, with other celebrities criticised for skipping the long wait.
Since then, the father of four appears to have forged a close friendship with the royals, especially King Charles after becoming an ambassador for the monarch's charitable foundation last year, even bonding with him over their shared interest in gardening. It was notable that Beckham and his wife Victoria attended a state banquet for the Emir of Qatar at Buckingham Palace in December.
With a popular 2023 Netflix documentary testament to the enduring interest in his life, accompanying all this has been continued commercial success for the 50-year-old's personal brand. Indeed, he was recently estimated to be the eighth highest-paid athlete, external of all time.
With a range of companies still lining up to be linked with him, the co-owner of Inter Miami continues to enjoy an international profile like no other British athlete, even in retirement.
