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Rebekah Vardy ordered to pay Coleen Rooney huge seven-figure sum – bringing epic six-year Wagatha Christie row to an end
Rival wags have repeatedly battled it out in court
REBEKAH Vardy has been ordered to pay Coleen Rooney £1.4million - bringing their epic six-year Wagatha Christie battle to an end.
Rebekah, 42, was told she would be forced to pick up 90 per cent of Coleen's bill after she sensationally lost the libel case.
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A judge today ruled Rebekah must pay Coleen an eye-watering £1.4million in legal costs following the high-profile fight.
It comes after she earlier agreed to fork out almost £1.2million of Coleen Rooney's legal costs.
The development brings an end to the six-year saga, which began in 2019 when Coleen revealed Rebekah was leaking stories to the press.
It also comes after The Sun revealed Rebekah is plotting a move to the US with husband Jamie amid talks for a TV role.
The judge said that he was "generally happy" that the outcome was a "commercially satisfactory conclusion for both sides", but that there had been "extraordinary expenditure of costs" by both parties.
He added: "I do mean it when I say that I hope that this is the end of a long and unhappy road."
Rebekah had repeatedly tried to slash former I'm A Celeb star Coleen's costs, which were put at £1,833,906.89.
In written submissions, her barrister, Juliet Wells today said that Coleen's total legal bill "has now been settled at £1,190,000" - £1,125,000 plus interest of £65.000.
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But the rival wags faced one final battle after Coleen claimed for "assessment costs" of more than £300,000.
Ms Wells branded the amount "grossly disproportionate" and said it should be capped at "no more than £100,000".
But costs Judge Mark Whalan said that it was "reasonable and proportionate" for Rebekah to pay £212,266.20 of the assessment costs, inclusive of VAT but before interest.
This is on top of the £1.19 million settlement - totalling at least £1,402,266.20.
Rebekah had previously launched an appeal against the amount she must pay back - accusing Coleen's team of "serious misconduct".
Her bid was dismissed last month after Mr Justice Cavanagh found the previous judge had "ample material" to reach his decision.
Her lawyer had argued Coleen's team had adopted a "kitchen sink approach" when calculating the total.
He also claimed the bill included costs for one of Coleen's team to stay at the five star Nobu Hotel.
It also included "substantial dinner and drinks charges as well as mini bar charges", the lawyer said.
He said Coleen's legal bill - £1,833,906.89 - was more than three times her "agreed costs budget of £540,779.07".
But Robin Dunne, for Coleen, argued it was "frankly outrageous" to accuse them of dishonesty.
Rebekah brought the multi-million pound case to court after she was accused of leaking stories to the press.
But Coleen - wife of ex-England ace Wayne - won the epic libel battle in 2022 - bringing an end to the three-year saga.
The row erupted back in October 2019 when Coleen and accused Rebekah of sharing stories from her personal Instagram account.
In the infamous post, Coleen said 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.
had only been viewed by one person, and ended dramatically: “It’s . . . Rebekah Vardy’s account.”
In return, Rebekah declared war and accused Coleen of destroying her reputation as she brought the libel case to court.
But her reputation and finances were left hanging in tatters after she was savaged by Mrs Justice Steyn in her ruling.
The judge said Rebekah "knew of, condoned and was actively engaged" in leaks to the media by her agent Caroline Watts.
She branded the mum's evidence as "manifestly inconsistent" but praised Coleen as an "honest and reliable" witness.
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Mrs Justice Steyn also found Rebekah deliberately destroyed evidence to cover up her deceit.
The hearing before Costs Judge Mark Whalan continues.
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