The Multiple Plots That Could Have Killed Victoria Beckham

If you think life is easy after being one of the turn of the century's biggest pop stars and then marrying the world's top soccer player, think again. There are apparently quite a few people out there against the whole Girl Power thing, because Victoria Beckham, aka Posh Spice, has had several brushes with danger over the years, including foiled kidnappings, violent death threats, and even one assumed attempt on her life at an awards show. It all started in 1999, when someone sent Victoria and David Beckham a newspaper photo of her on which they'd drawn a bullet coming directly at her, blood coming out of her head, and the message: "You are going to get what's coming to you." 

The BBC reported the incident in May 2000, adding that the family had received multiple such threats, including a similarly doctored photo that had been sent to David Beckham's parents' house, which showed their baby son, Brooklyn, bleeding from his head. Victoria's parents have received similar threats against their celebrity daughter.

The BBC report also detailed a plot to kidnap Victoria and Brooklyn that had been foiled by police the year before, after which security around the family had been increased. Unfortunately for the Beckham family, these incidents were not the end of their troubles.

In March 2000, Victoria received another scare while rehearsing with the Spice Girls for a performance at the Brit Awards. According to the Daily Mail, during the rehearsal, she saw a tiny, red dot on her chest, like the laser sight of a rifle. When she looked up, she saw the beam and noticed that it was not part of any stage lighting being used for the show. Because of the recent kidnapping plot, the police presence around her had been reinforced, and officers rushed to investigate. They climbed up to the structure from which she'd seen the laser pointing at her and found that a fire escape door had been wedged open for someone to be able to enter surreptitiously. Victoria was so frightened by the incident that during the actual performance, she thought some unexpected bangs sounded like gunshots and was convinced she'd been shot. Terrified, she clutched at her stomach and stopped singing.

Years later, despite this and other attempts on Victoria's life and freedom, one of her former Spice Girls partners joked about killing her. Fox News reported that Mel B, formerly Scary Spice, drunkenly said, "Who would I kill out of Geri [Halliwell, aka Ginger Spice] and Victoria? Both of them!" Apparently things didn't end to well between Scary Spice and the other girls.

Terror would once again visit the Beckham home in November 2002, when a group of men were accused of trying to carry out a plot to kidnap the former Spice Girl. In June 2003, however, the BBC reported that the case against the men was dropped after it came out that a tabloid had paid a convicted criminal £10,000 for the story. The News of the World had run an article with the headline, "Posh kidnap — we stop £5m ransom gang," and outlined the alleged plot to snatch Victoria and hold her for ransom. Although the paper took credit for stopping the operation, it was also credited with stopping the prosecution of the men.

The case brought up many legal questions about the rights of media outlets to pay sources in this way. It was suggested in the court proceedings that the informant the paper had paid could have organized the plot himself in order to fleece The News of the World for the fee. But the tabloid stood by its reporting. "The story resulted from a thorough and legitimate investigation undertaken by one of the paper's most senior and experienced reporters – a journalist responsible for more than 100 successful convictions," it said in a statement. Whether or not the plot was real, the Beckhams once again tightened up their security and hoped this one was would be the last of their worries.