Rebekah Vardy has once again reignited her bitter feud with Coleen Rooney amid the Wagatha Christie saga’s return to the High Court on Monday.
The WAG, 42, and her barrister reportedly accused The I’m A Celeb star, 38, of ‘serious misconduct’ by understating her legal fees, after Rebekah was ordered to foot the £1.8M bill.
Coleen, who is married to footballer Wayne Rooney, accused the wife of Jamie Vardy in 2019 of sharing her private information to the press on social media – which was found to be ‘substantially true’.
Rebekah was then ordered to pay 90% of Coleen’s legal bills, and after her attempts in October to slash the amount was denied, her team has now returned to court in a bid to appeal the decision.
After claiming her rival grossly inflated the amount, which was understood to include £2,000 for her solicitor’s stay at London’s five-star Nobu Hotel. Rebekah’s barrister has now told the court that Coleen and her team ‘very substantially understated’ the fees in a bid to ‘attack the other party’s costs’.
According to The Sun Jamie Carpenter KC said Coleen’s team understated the amount by 40% which could be classed as ‘serious misconduct’.
Rebekah Vardy (pictured) has once again reignited her bitter feud with Coleen Rooney amid the Wagatha Christie saga’s return to the High Court on Monday
The WAG and her barrister reportedly accused The I’m A Celeb star (pictured) of ‘serious misconduct’ by understating her legal fees, after Rebekah was ordered to foot the £1.8M bill
He suggested a ‘proportionate sanction’ would be set, which would limit the amount his client would have to pay to £220,955.
He told the judge: ‘Although the costs judge was critical of Mrs Rooney’s lawyers for their lack of transparency, he held ‘on balance’ and ‘only just’ that there was no misconduct. It is respectfully submitted that he was wrong to do so’.
But Coleen’s barrister Benjamin Williams KC said there was ‘no tenable case’ for misconduct and insisted the budget was ‘properly and correctly completed’.
Saying: ‘Mrs Rooney’s primary position is that, in this, she and her solicitors were adopting the right approach; but even if this is not correct, it was a reasonable approach.’
MailOnline have contacted Rebekah and Coleen’s reps for comment.
In October 2022, the judge ordered Rebekah to pay 90 per cent of her fellow WAG’s legal costs, with an initial £800,000 to be handed over.
Rebekah’s lawyers argue that the opposing legal team’s estimate of their costs was deliberately misleading, and that it amounted to a deliberate deception of both Vardy’s side and of the court.
Coleen’s representatives say it is ‘frankly outrageous’ to accuse them of dishonesty.
Coleen, who is married to footballer Wayne Rooney , accused the wife of Jamie Vardy (pictured at court 2022) in 2019 of sharing her private information to the press- which was found to be ‘substantially true’
After claiming her rival grossly inflated the amount, Rebekah’s barrister has now told the court that Coleen and her team ‘very substantially understated’ the fees in a bid to ‘attack the other party’s costs’ (Coleen leaving court 2022)
Coleen initially made the allegation in a post on Instagram in October 2019
Accusing Coleen’s lawyers of ‘trying to pick her pockets’, a source told The Sun last year: ‘As far as Becky is concerned, they have been trying to pick her pockets because they think they can get away with it.
‘They underestimated their costs and are overbilling her. From the costs of experts to legal fees, the figures are ludicrous.’
Insisting they are trying to take Rebekah for as much as they can, the source questioned why Coleen’s lawyer would need to be eating expensive meals and expect the WAG to pay.
They added: ‘Becky won’t stand for it. She will keep fighting in court until she feels there is a fair outcome.’
A judge ruled in 2022 that Coleen’s accusations that Rebekah had leaked stories on her to The Sun were substantially true.
Rebekah always denied any wrongdoing, but she was described as an ‘untrustworthy witness’ who was likely to have destroyed potentially crucial evidence on purpose in Mrs Justice Steyn’s devastating judgement on the case.
A judge ruled in 2022 that Coleen’s accusations that Rebekah had leaked stories on her to The Sun were substantially true (Coleen and Wayne pictured leaving court in 2022)
Rebekah always denied any wrongdoing, but she was described as an ‘untrustworthy witness’ (pictured with husband Jamie leaving court in 2022)
The after-shocks of the bombshell trial continue with the two parties wrangling over legal costs.
In May 2024, Senior judge Andrew Gordon-Saker reportedly told Coleen and Rebekah’s lawyers to come to an agreement, warning: ‘This could go on and on’.
Back in 2023 the sum of the legal fees was still to be assessed but was estimated to be around £500,000.
Therefore the final libel bill is more than three times higher than Rebekah was expecting.
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