LONDON – I was in London all of five minutes when it happened.

I had just gone through customs at Heathrow Airport and was on my way to the baggage claim area. I navigated my way through a sea of people, turned around the corner and there it was staring me directly in the face.

A giant Pepsi ad featuring David Beckham.

As I quickly found out, no matter where you go in London, Beckham's face is plastered everywhere.

On giant billboards along the highway. On the side of the city's famous double-decker buses. On posters in the subway (or the 'Tube' as Londoners call it). On T-shirts being sold by street peddlers. On TV commercials.

David Beckham is everywhere.

To call the 28-year-old Manchester United player a superstar doesn't quite do him justice. With all due respect to Tiger Woods, he is the most famous athlete on the planet.

But he's much more than just a midfielder who can bend the ball unlike any other player in the game.

In this country, he is a cultural and sporting icon.

England's insatiable appetite for soccer means Beckham and his missus -- ex-Spice Girl Victoria "Posh" Adams -- are regular fixtures on the front page of all the major newspapers and magazines.

They are worshiped and adored by millions of young, hip and urbane English 20-somethings who have grown tired of an aging Queen that their old, un-hip parents grew up with.

Becks and Posh are the new monarchy.

"They've replaced the Royal Family," said Richard John, an old friend of mine from Toronto now living in London.

Rich gave me the lowdown on the English obsession with all things Becks while sharing a few pints at Goose, a laid back pub that looks a lot like the coffee house from Friends.

"We've got a real obsession with celebrity culture in this country," he explained.

"It's a lot like the fascination with the Kennedys and Camelot. Beckham and Posh are constantly being held up in the public eye and everybody wants to know about them. Everybody wants to be them."

A small walk I took around the city bears this out. Amazed as I was by the hustle and bustle of this huge, sprawling metropolis, what struck me even more is how every fifth 'bloke' seemed to be sporting a Beckham jersey, and how virtually every pretty 'lass' had Posh's hip-hugging jeans, tight top and gloss lipstick look down pat.

As far as examining the phenomenon of Beckham firsthand, the timing of my arrival in London couldn't have come at a better time.

Last week, Beckham broke the bone between his right thumb and wrist in England's 2-1 win over South Africa in Durban. He was quickly taken off the pitch and didn't finish the game.

Word spread of the seriousness of his injury, with initial reports stating that the English captain will be sidelined until September.

Ever since, it’s been bedlam in England. Pages upon pages of editorial space have been dedicated in all the major newspapers to this latest Beckham crisis, each paper with their own unique slant.

Take the Daily Star for example.

The Star pointed out that Beckham's injury could have huge ramifications for Manchester United's upcoming exhibition tour of the U.S. in July and August. With a game plan to go after the lucrative American sports market, Man. U is determined to establish its brand name in the States and grab its piece of the marketing pie.

That task becomes much more difficult without its star player making the trip.

But despite the early prognosis from doctors, Becks is determined to play on the tour.

"I'll be with the boys on that plane to America," Beckham is quoted in the article.

Little wonder then that the Daily Star dubbed Beckham 'Captain Courage' in the same story.

At the other end of the journalistic spectrum are trashy, tawdry tabloids like Saturday Sport. Don't let the name fool you. It's little more than a vehicle to feature hordes of photos of topless women with bits and pieces of actual sports copy sparsely fitted in here and there.

While the Daily Star focused on the long term ramifications of Beckham's injury, Saturday Sport took a far different approach.

Its headline read 'Docs slap wanking ban on Becks.'

Yes, it seems the trusted scribes at Saturday Sport did some digging and found out that because he's right-handed, Beckham will not be able to, ahem, pleasure himself.

"Posh has got her hands full now," quipped the story, which went on to speculate that the leggy pop singer "must now take over masturbatory duties for her husband."

It may be drivel to you and me, but to editors in these parts, "stories" such as these are pure gold. News copy on Beckham, no matter how asinine, sells papers.

A point proven by the two 'punters' standing next to me at a newsstand who lapped up the story, no doubt excited with the imagery of Posh helping out her husband, before each plunked down the money to buy a copy of their own.

You really have to 'hand' it to the Brits. They know good investigative journalism when they read it.