Outrageous Betrayal of Etiquette: Posh accused of 'discrediting the honours system' after revealing she's getting an OBE 

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The fashion designer told her family over Christmas and the news has since leaked

Victoria Beckham was last night accused of breaching official protocol by revealing she is to receive an OBE in the New Year’s Honours list.

Nominees are given strict instructions to keep their inclusion on the Queen’s list a secret until it is revealed tomorrow night.

But the fashion designer told her family over Christmas and the news has since leaked.

The former Spice Girl, 42, is said to be ‘delighted and humbled’ about being recognised for the award, which is being given for her services to fashion and her charity links.

She would have been told that she was to be nominated by the Prime Minister, on the recommendation of the Head of the Civil Service and the Main Honours Committee, in a letter from the Cabinet Office this month.

The letter is sent in ‘strict confidence’, meaning nominees are meant to keep it a secret until the list is published – something her husband David, 41, will have known, as he received an OBE in 2003. However, Mrs Beckham disclosed the news to him and their four children, Brooklyn, Romeo, Cruz and Harper, while on holiday in the Maldives.

Yesterday a source close to the family broke the news to the world, saying that Mrs Beckham was ‘delighted and humbled for the recognition’. The source added: ‘Victoria is incredibly proud of the fashion brand she has built and ever thankful for her amazing team.’

Mrs Beckham disclosed the news to her husband and their four children, Brooklyn, Romeo, Cruz and Harper, while on holiday in the Maldives

Last night Tory MP Andrew Bridgen said: ‘Nominees are sworn to secrecy, so she has broken the first rule of being offered the honour. It would appear to be a breach of protocol and perhaps raises questions over her suitability that she has leaked her own nomination. This further discredits our honours system.’

Fellow Tory Peter Bone said: ‘It is certainly a betrayal of etiquette, it is just not done. It is just wrong and I don’t understand why anyone would leak something like that. To get an honour is extremely important and it might well be for a very good reason but you just don’t leak it. Full stop.’

While she is not the first to leak news of an impending honour, Mrs Beckham’s nomination itself is likely to raise eyebrows, as those put forward to become an OBE are traditionally those who have made an exceptional contribution to civic life and society. After leaving the Spice Girls she founded her fashion brand in 2008. In 2014 she was named a UN Goodwill Ambassador.

Tory MPs Andrew Bridgen (left) and Peter Bone (right) criticised Mrs Beckham for revealing the honour

Mrs Beckham doubtless takes her good works very seriously. After all, humanitarian causes are a good way to offset red-carpet excess. A source close to the family said yesterday: ‘She is especially thrilled that her philanthropic work as a UN Aids goodwill ambassador, creating a voice and awareness for women with HIV that suffer prejudice and discrimination, has been recognised in this way.’

But some might question the notion that she has yet proved herself a successful businesswoman in her own right.

Her upmarket clothing empire is losing money and would have been millions in the red without cash from her ex-footballer husband.

Her designs have, however, been remarkably well-received by the fashion pack. Famous fans include Gwyneth Paltrow, Claire Danes, Miranda Kerr, Cameron Diaz and Sienna Miller – and, perhaps surprisingly, Theresa May, who wore a £1,395 Bitzer dress with a daring full-length exposed back zip to last year’s Tory Party conference.

Beckham (pictured with husband David, above) is set to be awarded an OBE

Of course, this all comes at a price: a bustier midi dress is on sale for the ‘bargain’ price of £555 – reduced from £1,850 – while a humble stripey polo-neck has been knocked down from just under £800 to a still purse-stinging £237.

Yesterday just 81 people visited the flagship Victoria Beckham store in Mayfair, where garments are suspended on gold chains and shoppers have to pay by iPad. Only a fraction of those who entered appeared to make a purchase.

An aura of success certainly hovers around Posh’s fashion empire. She was nominated this year for the prestigious Womenswear Designer of the Year award, having won the Best Brand trophy at the 2014 British Fashion Awards.

But behind the glossy facade, Victoria Beckham Ltd registered a profit of only £1.23million in its most recent published accounts, for 2014.

And the figures reveal that her firm scraped into the black thanks only to help from her husband, without which the business would have made a near-£4million loss.

Her latest accounts, to the end of 2015, have been filed with Companies House but are not expected to be made public until early 2017.

Aides concede, however, that these will show she has run up another, slightly bigger loss.

Sales are increasing – by £9million to £34million in 2014 – but so are costs. And Posh’s company borrowings doubled to more than £17million. Most of the increase was due to a sum of £7million owed to other parts of the Beckham business empire.

Insiders point out she is investing heavily in building up her company for the long term and that, with the family worth an estimated £470million, she does not need to make a short-term profit.

In fairness to her, it must be said that she has no need to work. Her business is paying taxes and creating jobs, and luxury fashion is a difficult nut to crack.

But the jury is still out on whether she really is a force in the fashion industry or merely a woman being bankrolled by a very generous hubby.