David Beckham sparks debate after sharing picture of himself kissing daughter Harper on the lips

David Beckham has sparked online controversy after sharing a picture of himself kissing his daughter on the lips.

The father of four posted the snap of himself and youngest child Harper, five, kissing in front of a sunset to his Instagram account, captioning it simply: 'Kiss for Daddy ❤️'.

Most of his 37 million fans were complimentary of the sweet image, with many referring to it as 'beautiful' and 'cute'.

'This melted my heart @davidbeckham,' one wrote. 'A great dad a great footballer a great person and role model to luck upto!! Your kids must be very proud'.

However, there were a handful of followers who weren't so enamoured with the photo, and left negative comments questioning whether it was appropriate for David to be kissing his daughter in this way.

'Am I the only one who thinks this is weird??' one asked, whilst a second added: 'Why in the lips though?'

'Unfollow this is just wrong!!!' a third exclaimed, and another agreed: 'this is wrong :('.

It wasn't long before supporters of the pair hit back at the criticism, with several fellow mothers and fathers saying that they kiss their own children on the lips, and that they saw nothing wrong with the gesture.

'For all u ppl with these ridiculous comments !! I can only say u must not be parents !!' one parent declared. 'As a bond with our children is indescribable 😘💋 I have 3 boys and kiss and cuddle them every day and every night !!! It's called love and affection 💝💝💝 our children are so precious !!!'

'I feel bad for those that didn't grow up having a close loving relationship with their parents,' another said. 'One day my children might decide to stop kissing me on the lips but until that day I'll treasure every kiss they give me and I'd certainly never reject them'.

David isn't the first member of the Beckham family to face backlash for the way they kiss their children - back in 2016, Victoria uploaded a similar image of herself and Harper kissing on the lips, leading to a barrage of judgements from her audience.

However, other fans once again jumped to their defence, with some even choosing to post their own images of themselves kissing their children in solidarity.

Do you kiss your children on the lips? Let us know your thought in the comment box below!