Britain's unofficial royalty get more royal by the day. David and Victoria Beckham already have absurdly palatial homes in England and the south of France.

He has more cars than he can possibly drive, while his wife has enough frocks to rival Imelda Marcos's shoe collection.

But now they have found a new way to live the royal lifestyle - His and Hers jets.

Ordinary scheduled flights are clearly beneath them; the couple took separate private jets when they left the south of France - Beckham off to Madrid before joining his team in China, while Posh was flying back home to Britain.

Beckham's plane is part of his new package of perks now that he has joined Real Madrid.

Bookajet, a company founded earlier this year, will provide an aircraft for the midfielder wherever he goes for what are known as celebrity rates - generally reckoned to be a euphemism for free, or as near as free.

Whatever happens Beckham himself will not actually have to pay a penny for his flights: the company hopes to recoup whatever it loses on seat prices with the publicity it gains from having the Beckhams as passengers.

For Beckham, who will need to fly regularly between Britain and Spain, it will be a significant perk: he will save up to ￡10,000 on each return flight to Madrid.

However, it was not clear today who provided the plane that took Victoria back to Britain. While Beckham's Hawker 125 clearly displayed the livery of Bookajet, Victoria's plane was in different colours - although whether that was because somebody else was paying, or because it did not go with her shoes, was not made immediately apparent.

In general transport does not seem to be much of a problem for Beckham. When he arrived in Madrid a new car was waiting for him, courtesy of his employers - in case he has not actually got enough cars - a gleaming silver Range Rover 4x4 V8 Vogue model.

If a vague flicker of recognition flashed across his face as he stepped on to the tarmac, it was because it was the same model as the Range Rover he has.

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