Vardy must pay £1.4m of Rooney's 'Wagatha' legal costs

Rebekah Vardy indispensable wage much than £1.4m of Coleen Rooney's ineligible costs pursuing their libel battle, a justice has said.

Mrs Rooney ran up a ineligible measure totalling much than £1.8m portion successfully defending herself against Mrs Vardy's High Court assertion successful 2022. After Mrs Vardy mislaid the case, tribunal documents showed she had been ordered to wage 90% of Mrs Rooney's costs.

Earlier connected Tuesday, a specializer costs tribunal was told that Mrs Vardy had agreed to wage £1.19m to Mrs Rooney, who was besides asking for a further £315,000 successful "assessment costs".

Costs justice Mark Whalan past said it was "reasonable and proportionate" for Mrs Vardy to wage her an further £212,266. This took the full to conscionable implicit £1.4m, including interest.

He said helium was "generally happy" that the result represented a "commercially satisfactory decision for some sides", but noted determination had been "extraordinary expenditure of costs" by the parties.

"I bash mean it erstwhile I accidental that I anticipation that this is the extremity of a agelong and unhappy road."

Mrs Rooney is the woman of ex-England footballer Wayne Rooney, portion Mrs Vardy is joined to his erstwhile team-mate Jamie Vardy. Both women are present celebrities and TV personalities successful their ain right.

Neither attended the distant hearing, with Judge Whalan declaring they "can some portion to enactment this substance down them".

Mrs Vardy's barrister, Juliet Wells, had argued that Mrs Rooney was claiming "grossly disproportionate" costs, recommending they were capped astatine "no much than £100,000".

In written submissions, Ms Wells said Mrs Rooney's archetypal £1.8m ineligible measure was "substandard" and included costs "of briefing the press" and others to which she had "no entitlement".

But lawyers for Mrs Rooney said successful their written submissions that Mrs Vardy was "the writer of her ain misfortune" and that she should "reflect upon her approach".