Becks 'is the new Princess of Wales'

David Beckham has replaced Diana, Princess of Wales, as the nation's most cherished figure, a study has found.

Researchers analysed the England football captain's and Diana's place in the public heart and found that Golden Balls was the natural successor to the princess.

Both had the rare ability to be 'all things to all people' which had enabled Beckham to weather media storms over an alleged affair and a 'lacklustre' performance at Euro 2004.

Both attracted the 'language of the sacred', with Beckham being described variously as a 'Joan of Arc figure' embodying a 'manly sainthood'.

Like Diana, Beckham is said to have bridged racial, national and social divides, and has acted as a 'proclaimed forerunner of social change', especially over his metrosexual image which has helped challenge age-old gender stereotypes.

Dr Andrew Parker, researcher at the University of Warwick, said: 'Both have been credited with a driving work ethic deeply invested in the values of love, devotion and loyalty.

Yet both are glamorous figures; supremely beautiful people who have unashamedly invested in the pleasures of the body and consumption.'