Furious Rebekah Vardy to face Coleen Rooney in High Court after launching £1m lawsuit
FURIOUS Rebekah Vardy will face Coleen Rooney in the High Court after launching a £1million lawsuit over their “Wagatha Christie” bust-up. Becky, 38, has lodged court papers which claim her former friend Coleen, 34, libelled or slandered her by accusing her on social media of leaking stories. Sources close to the case say legal costs […]
FURIOUS Rebekah Vardy will face Coleen Rooney in the High Court after launching a £1million lawsuit over their “Wagatha Christie” bust-up.
Becky, 38, has lodged court papers which claim her former friend Coleen, 34, libelled or slandered her by accusing her on social media of leaking stories.
Sources close to the case say legal costs are set to spiral up to £500,000 for each side. The two mums had attempted mediation to resolve it.
But Becky, wife of Leicester striker Jamie, has instructed a team of big-hitting lawyers to begin what will be one of the most explosive celebrity cases to reach London’s High Court.
No details of her case against ex-England hero Wayne’s wife Coleen have yet been made public.
But insiders say that she is prepared to stand up before a judge if necessary — and is more concerned about an apology than any financial settlement.
A source said: “Becky has made it clear to Coleen that she is deadly serious about clearing her name, and wants a full public apology.
“It’s not about money. As far as Becky is concerned, she wants her costs and vindication.
“But since Coleen still refuses to agree to an apology, she’s gone ahead with filing the paperwork at the High Court.
“It’s a very expensive thing to do and the expectation is costs could run towards half a million pounds for each side but she’s completely determined to clear her name at any cost.”
The Sun told previously how the pair had attempted mediation alongside their legal advisers in the wake of Coleen’s claim that Becky leaked stories about her.
But now we can reveal Becky has launched a legal claim for defamation against her one-time friend.
The case is unlikely to reach a full court hearing until next year at the earliest.
It comes after The Sun previously told how Coleen had sacked her lawyers in the latest twist in the saga.
‘FAR FROM CLEAR-CUT’
It is understood she was angry at their suggestion her case may not be as strong as she first thought, and warned her that things were “far from clear-cut”.
Furious Coleen replaced them with a team of pricey media law specialists. Mum-of-five Becky will have to file detailed papers setting out exactly why she believes she has been defamed.
She will also have to indicate if she believes she has been libelled — defamed in writing — or slandered, where the damage has been done by the spoken word.
Sources say it is possible — though unlikely — Becky could make a claim under both.
The case could be halted before any trial takes place if the parties agree a settlement.
That would normally involve the defendant — in this case, Coleen — paying out or formally apologising.
Coleen and Becky were once good pals and were regularly pictured together supporting their husbands at England matches.
But last October, mum-of-four Coleen claimed in a bombshell social media post how one of her friends was leaking stories about her.
She wrote: “After a long time of trying to figure out who it could be for various reasons, I had a suspicion.”
Coleen claimed she posted a string of false stories via her Instagram account with restricted access to see if they appeared in the media, which they did.
All the stories which were subsequently printed in The Sun were put to Coleen’s reps for comment.
She then said the fake stories had only been viewed by one person, and ended dramatically: “It’s . . . Rebekah Vardy’s account.”
As her statement went viral, Coleen was dubbed “Wagatha Christie”, while an anti-Vardy backlash whipped up.
Becky, who was heavily pregnant at the time, denied the allegations and claimed several people had access to her account.
She said: “I liked you a lot Coleen and I’m so upset you have chosen to do this, especially when I’m heavily pregnant. I’m disgusted I’m even having to deny this.”
She later revealed she had received death threats. Becky said: “Everyone hates me. I swear I didn’t do this.
‘HUNG ME OUT TO DRY’
“I would never have done anything like this and certainly not to Coleen. I don’t know why on earth she would do this to me.
“She said she liked me then hung me out to dry in public.
“I have absolutely no idea who was responsible. I have always liked Coleen on a personal level.
“We’ve always got on fine, and I would have no reason to do something like this to her.
“My only issue with her is the way she has gone about doing this to me in public, and causing all of this upset, without speaking to me first in private.
“Why didn’t she pick up the phone? I have been so upset by it — and I’m heavily pregnant too.
“Now I’m getting death threats saying I should die and my unborn child should die.
“That’s why I’m determined to get to the bottom of what has gone on and clear my name.”
In May, we told how the pair had tried formal legal mediation in a bid to break the deadlock.
An arbitration hearing, known as ADR and held using video conferencing software, was attempted in a bid to avoid court.
But all efforts at a resolution failed, leading to the court papers being filed on June 12.
Sources last night added Becky’s choice of lawyers, Kingsley Napley, was significant.
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A source said: “They are major players.
Choosing them sends a very clear message about the seriousness of Mrs Vardy’s claim.”
Meanwhile, court records show that Coleen has been represented by Liverpool and Manchester firm Brabners. It has acted for the Wayne Rooney Foundation charity since 2016.
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