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'Wagatha Christie': Vardy and Rooney settle on legal costs / Photo: © AFP
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'Wagatha Christie': Vardy and Rooney settle on legal costs
The years-long libel battle between England footballer wife Rebekah Vardy and Coleen Rooney drew to a close on Tuesday with a specialist UK court ordering Vardy to pay some £1.4 million to her rival.
In the final leg of the "Wagatha Christie" saga, Vardy's lawyer told a court she was willing to pay £1.2 million of Rooney's legal costs for a failed libel suit.
Rebekah is married to English footballer Jamie Vardy, while Coleen is the wife of former Manchester United star Wayne Rooney.
Rebekah Vardy launched the libel case against Coleen Rooney over a 2019 social media post alleging that Vardy's Instagram account had leaked Rooney's personal information to The Sun newspaper.
In 2022, a High Court judge found the allegations made by Rooney were "substantially true", and that Vardy was complicit in the release of information to The Sun by her agent.
The judge had ordered Vardy to pay 90 percent of Rooney's legal bill, or some £1.5 million in the 2022 verdict.
Now, after years of wrangling over the legal costs, Vardy's lawyer told a specialist court she had agreed to pay £1.2 million towards Rooney's legal costs.
A costs judge ruled she must pay an additional £212,000, bringing the total to around £1.4 million.
Three years ago, the trial laid bare tabloid double-dealing and the lives of the rich and famous.
Huge interest in the very public falling-out of the two WAGs, or wives and girlfriends of high-profile footballers, generated wall-to-wall coverage.
The internet dubbed Coleen Rooney "Wagatha Christie" for her elaborate sleuthing to determine who was behind the media leaks.
Costs Judge Mark Whalan said he was "generally happy" the outcome was a "commercially satisfactory conclusion for both sides".
He said there had been an "extraordinary expenditure" by both parties.
"I do mean it when I say that I hope that this is the end of a long and unhappy road," the judge added.
J.Peterson--SFF
