
The retired footballer expressed his love for nine-year-old Harper during a family day at an organic farm in Gloucestershire.
The moment was captured by wife Victoria Beckham, who posted it onto her Instagram with the caption, “The best daddy”.
But no sooner had it gone up than the online critics came out, blasting Becks for kissing his daughter on the mouth.
“Adore your family, but never understood those parents’ kisses on the lips. Still the best family,” wrote one fan while another more irate one, wrote
“Please stop kissing kids on the lips!!!!”
“Why is he kissing her in her lips [sic]?” asked a third fan, seemingly confused by the show of family love.
However, there were plenty who jumped to the Beckhams’ defence.
One fan pointed out that kissing one’s child shouldn’t be seen in a negative light and it’s because of people’s “own issues”.
“People associate kissing on the lips as an intimate act between lovers but some cultures do this with anyone and they know how to separate the reactions from love and affection vs intimacy.
“We just need to get to that level and stop being weird about it because of our own issues,” she wrote.
Another wrote, “Thank you for showing it is perfectly normal and right for a father to kiss his daughter on the lips as a sign of love and true affection!”
In 2017, David was forced to defend a photo of him kissing Harper, insisting he and Victoria are “always very affectionate” with their four kids.
During a Facebook Live chat back then, he admitted, “I kiss all my kids on the lips. Brooklyn [their eldest son] maybe not. Brooklyn is 18, so he might find that a little strange, but I'm very affectionate with the kids.”
Sources: dailymail.co.uk, Instagram, thesun.co.uk