David Beckham has once again caused a distraction among his fans after sharing a sweet throwback family snap to mark his mum’s birthday. 

The former footballer took to social media to publicly pay tribute to his mother Sandra Beckham on her special day.

He shared a picture of the birthday girl, who turned 74 on Wednesday (June 16), taken back when he was just a youngster.

It showed Sandra holding onto her youngest child, Joanne, while eldest Lynne cuddled up to her baby sister and David rested himself alongside his mum.

“Happy Birthday Mum love you so much x the sun is shining and you deserve to have the best day [red heart emoji],”

David, 49, began in the caption of his post in view of his 88 million followers.

He then went on to joke about his sibling rivalry, adding: “We love u so much [red heart emoji] Lots of love your favourite child [laughing emoji],” before he humorously tagged his sisters in the post.

David’s wife Victoria was quick to respond to the post, writing: “Happy birthday Sandra!! We love u.” While Joanne responded to David’s claim, and seemingly confirmed he was right, posting: “Haha you beat me to it @davidbeckham. Love you mum even if David’s your favourite @sandra_beckham49.” But Sandra herself was happy with all the love, commenting: “Ahh thank you love you all too.”

And David’s fans and followers were also rushing to share their birthday wishes for Sandra while also being distracted by her resemblance to the late Princess Diana.

@lindalievaart said: “Your mom looks a bit Lady Di.” @julesmegan29 replied: “Omg I thought the same. She really does look like Princess Di.” @oiro16 commented: “Omg I actually thought it was her and found the first line of the caption odd!!” @beckyfarn added: “Thought your mum was Princess Di for a second.”

It comes after David quashed rumours of a potential Spice Girls reunion. The former Manchester United and England star dismissed growing speculation that the iconic Nineties girl group, which included his wife Victoria famously known as Posh Spice, were set to reunite for another tour.

The rumours came following their surprise performance at Victoria’s 50th birthday party back in April. When asked by Variety about the possibility of them hitting the stage together once again, David said: “Unfortunately, that’s not happening.”

Referring to the impromptu Spice Girls’ gig at Victoria’s birthday celebration, he added: “Victoria was so pleased to see the girls, and it was a massive part of her life, the girls, but obviously, all the girls have got their own things going on.”