David Beckham defended after photo of him kissing son on the lips is shared

David Beckham has become quite a discussion point when it comes to differing parenting styles.

The 49-year-old footie icon has divided opinion for quite some time now for the way he shows affection with his four children, Brooklyn, Romeo, Cruz and Harper, with many finding the lip-on-lip kissing between parents and children to be slightly odd.

However, David has since been defended after a photo of him kissing Romeo on the lips was shared on social media.

To celebrate his dad's birthday, Romeo, 21, took to Instagram to share with his four million followers a throwback snap of them both embraced in a cuddle and kiss.

He captioned the post: "Happy birthday dad thank you for everything love you always + forever @davidbeckham."

People have since rushed in to share their reactions to the snap with some clearly not a fan of the birthday post.

One Instagram user penned: "Opening the app to this is crazy."

"Thought his account got hacked," hit out a second.

A third quipped: "No this is hilarious I thought it was a post from a meme page."

"This photo is weird," slammed a fourth.

Romeo Beckham shared a post on Instagram for his dad's birthday. (Instagram/@romeobeckham)

Others, however, were quick to defend the footballer with one writing: "Happy birthday David have a great day you are an amazing father."

Another praised: "Oh my word, Romeo, the caption is beautiful. Happy birthday @davidbeckham."

And a final fan added: "Why can't parents kiss their small kiddies on the lips?

"I did with my parents when small and so I did the same with my babyies n now my grand-babies nothing wrong."

They continued: "It's innocent love an should be that way.. you have to have very decoded warped minds to think anything wrong in it.

"Great kids they seen and fab parents with snippets we the public get to see."

People had mixed opinions on Romeo's birthday post. (Instagram/@romeobeckham)

David has previously defended his parenting style and explained the gesture of kissing your little one on he lips was nothing more than an innocent way to express love for your child.

Speaking during a Facebook Live interview in 2017, he said: "We want to show our kids love.

"I got criticised for kissing my daughter on the lips the other day.

"I kiss all my kids on the lips."

The former Manchester United player continued at the time: "Brooklyn, maybe not. Brooklyn's 18, he might find that a little bit strange.

"But I'm very affectionate with the kids. It's how I was brought up and Victoria, and it's how we are with our children."

The father-of-four resolved: "We want to show our kids love and we protect them, look after them, and support them, and you know, we're very affectionate with them."