Rebekah Vardy Ordered to Pay Over £1.4 Million to Coleen Rooney in Final Chapter of Wagatha Christie Legal Saga

The long-running legal feud between Rebekah Vardy and Coleen Rooney reached its conclusion this week, with Vardy being ordered to pay more than £1.4 million towards Rooney’s legal expenses stemming from their headline-grabbing libel battle.

In a ruling delivered by Costs Judge Mark Whalan at a specialist costs court hearing on Tuesday, Vardy was instructed to pay an additional £212,266.20 on top of the £1.19 million she had already agreed to cover. The final tally of £1,402,266.20 brings the curtain down on a bitter and costly dispute sparked by a 2019 Instagram post from Rooney.

The legal clash began when Rooney, suspecting someone was leaking stories from her private Instagram account to The Sun newspaper, launched a social media sting operation that concluded with the now-iconic line: “It’s... Rebekah Vardy’s account.” Vardy, wife of footballer Jamie Vardy, denied the claims and filed a defamation lawsuit in 2020. However, in a 2022 High Court ruling, the judge sided with Rooney, stating that her allegations were “substantially true.”

Since then, the two have been locked in a separate legal struggle over costs. Rooney’s legal team originally claimed £1.83 million, but Vardy contested the figure as excessive. The court ultimately ruled in Rooney’s favour, with Judge Whalan describing some of the spending as “extraordinary” and the process as a cautionary tale of prolonged litigation.

While Vardy is set to pay the lion’s share of costs, Rooney will also pay Vardy £135,097.50 under a separate court order, which will be offset against the larger amount.

Neither party appeared at the remote hearing, but Judge Whalan expressed hope that the ruling would finally allow both women to move on, saying: “This is the end of a long and unhappy road.”

The saga, dubbed “Wagatha Christie” by the public for Rooney’s detective-like approach, captivated the UK and beyond with its blend of celebrity, social media intrigue, and courtroom drama. It also inspired a Disney+ documentary, several books, and endless tabloid coverage.

Despite Vardy’s attempts to explain that multiple people had access to her account and her claims that the allegations ruined her reputation, the court found that it was likely her former agent had leaked the stories, and that Vardy was aware of and complicit in the actions.

Rooney, meanwhile, has spoken openly about the toll the case took on her health, citing anxiety and a resurgence of reactive arthritis triggered by the stress. In her documentary, she said she “stuck to [her] guns from day one,” maintaining the truth of her allegations.

Now, after more than five years of public and legal wrangling, one of the most talked-about celebrity disputes of the social media age may finally be over.

_{Featured Image Credit: Pexels / KATRIN BOLOVTSOVA, Instagram / @beckyvardy}