Susan Dalgety: David and Victoria Beckham's outdoor air conditioning

The Beckhams are nothing like the family next door. Picture: Getty

The American author F Scott Fitzgerald once wrote that the rich are different. He might have had Victoria and David Beckham in mind.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love Posh and Becks. They are hard-working, dedicated to their family, and Victoria makes some beautiful, if totally unaffordable, clothes.

But much as they might pretend to be the family next door, they are not. And I have the proof.

It is not their transatlantic lifestyle that marks them out from the rest of us. Or even that their family home in London cost a mere £31 million.

No, it is the fact that they have an air-conditioned garden that sets them apart.

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Yes, I had to read that twice too. Their London garden is air-conditioned.

I live in Fisherrow, so our back green has plenty of air-conditioning from the Firth of Forth, so I had to Google air-con for gardens.

It is an American thing apparently, which, if you’re rich and live in Miami with its long, hot summers, makes sense. But why on earth would you need air-con in Britain?

We only have a couple of hot summer days a year. Three in a row and we call it a heatwave and declare a national holiday. The rest of the time it is grey and cold.

Unless of course the Beckhams’ back garden has its own micro-climate. Now that really would be different.