Victoria Beckham stepped out with a foot brace on Friday, after a recent skiing holiday with her family in Whistler, Canada.

The fashion designer, 43, was pictured hobbling on crutches and wearing a large foot brace as she departed a London's Guildhall on Friday morning - though that didn't deter the style icon from wearing her beloved heels.

However, some fans speculated that rather than a skiing accident, it was likely that Victoria had had an operation on one of her painful bunions after saying years ago that she would have to have the surgery at some point. 

She told Women's Wear Daily in 2010: '(The attention on my feet) really was embarrassing. I think I'll have to have the surgery, but I've heard it's the most painful. 

A bunion is a bony bump at the base of the big toe joint. This becomes painfully inflamed when shoes rub against it - a problem made worse by high heels which throw the body weight forward.

Victoria had already been advised to have a bunionectomy, which involves the surgeon cutting into the toe joint then re-aligning the toe bone and securing it with screws. 

In 2009, a friend has told the Mail: 'The Beckham household is all about feet at the moment: David is having painkilling injections for bone bruising on his foot, while Victoria is in agony with her misshapen feet.

'She is suffering from shooting pain from the bunions. Normally, she kicks off her shoes in the house, but she has been out so much recently in high heels that she is really feeling it.' 

They added at the time: 'She has been doing exercises, such as standing on a step and lowering her weight onto one leg, and lying on her back to stretch her legs.' 

'Victoria calls her feet "the bane of my life'', but she is worried about having the operation because she fears they will compromise her ability to wear heels and ruin her stylish look,' says her friend.

'She puts up with the pain, but the doctor has told her she seriously needs to consider a bunionectomy or ditch the heels for a few months to let the inflammation calm down. She has not got that long to decide what to do.'

Another source told Closer a year later: 'It's a major operation and Vic's said she's having sleepless nights at the thought of it. 

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