London, Sep 01: David Beckham said he felt humiliated when Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson questioned his loyalty to the club after he attended a Buckingham Palace reception held by the Queen for the England team.
Beckham, who had a rib injury at the time of the November reception, then went for a holiday to Barbados with his pop star wife Victoria and sons Brooklyn and Romeo.
"I came back fresh. But I began to feel a chill in the atmosphere between me and Alex Ferguson," wrote England captain Beckham now at Spanish giants Real Madrid in his autobiography 'My Side', serialised in British Sunday tabloid the News of the World.
"I asked him. 'Is there a problem? Have you got a problem with me'. He did. A big problem. It was that instead of going straight on holiday I'd gone to Buckingham Palace with the rest of the England players.
"He reckoned I'd have been fit sooner if I hadn't waited those extra couple of days before going away.



"I'm England captain... I felt it was my duty to be there.



"What the gaffer (manager) said next, I'll never forget: 'When I saw you turn up there I questioned your loyalty to Manchester United'.



"That stung," admitted midfielder Beckham, 28 who until his July transfer to Real had only ever played professional club football for United.


Bureau Report