Coleen Rooney expresses relief as Wagatha Christie dispute comes to an end with a message to Rebekah Vardy about better use of time and money

Coleen Rooney has shared her ‘relief’ as the Wagatha Christie showdown was ‘finally’ settled after Rebekah Vardy settled on a seven-figure sum.

Coleen broke her silence in a statement on Wednesday, highlighting that ‘time and money could have been utilized more effectively.’ She directed a harsh message towards Rebekah in her statement.

Rebekah, who is 42 years old and a WAG, agreed to cover £1,190,000 of Coleen’s legal expenses. Additionally, she was instructed to pay an extra £212,266 for assessment costs following the dramatic outcome of their high-profile libel lawsuit.

This means that Rebekah’s total financial obligation now stands at a minimum of £1,402,266.20. According to MailOnline, she has already settled portions of the bill, such as £800,000 four years ago and another £100,000 last year.

She wrote: ‘The ruling yesterday in my favour finally brings this claim to an end, it’s a relief and brings closure for my family and I.

‘Throughout this long process, I am grateful that the judgements have consistently gone my way.

Coleen Rooney has shared her ‘relief’ as the Wagatha Christie showdown was ‘finally’ settled after Rebekah Vardy settled on a seven-figure sum

Breaking her silence in a statement on Wednesday, Coleen insisted ‘time and money should have been put to better use’ in the scathing message to Rebekah 

The WAG agreed to pay £1,190,000 of Coleen’s legal bill, plus was ordered to pay a further £212,266 in assessment costs, after sensationally losing their high-profile libel case

‘However, as I have always maintained this claim did not need to be made or run for as long as it did.

‘The time and money should have been put to better use. 

‘I want to thank my legal representatives, management, friends and family for their guidance and constant support.

‘Thanks also to the public and many well wishers who have been in touch with such kind messages. 

‘This episode is not something I ever wanted in my life however I am thankful for the way my family and team have dealt with it.

‘We look forward to moving on with our lives.’ 

Coleen must also pay Rebekah a total of £135,097.50 in costs under the terms of court orders from 2024, which will be set off against what Rebekah must pay.

A source close to Rebekah told MailOnline on Tuesday: ‘It’s a huge relief for Rebekah that this long legal battle is now coming to an end. 

This takes the total Rebekah must pay to at least £1,402,266.20. MailOnline understands she has already paid some of the bill, including £800,000 four years ago and £100,000 last year 

Rebekah was ordered to pay 90 percent of Coleen’s (pictured) legal bills after she sensationally lost the libel case which accused her of leaking stories about Wayne Rooney’s wife to the press

‘She’s looking forward to putting the whole ordeal well and truly behind her. 

‘Now she’s just focusing on the future. And there are some big plans coming up for her now that she just wants to get cracking with.’

Coleen ran up a legal bill of more than £1.8 million while successfully defending herself against Rebekah’s High Court claim in 2022.

After losing their High Court showdown, Rebekah was ordered to pay 90 percent of Coleen’s legal costs.

In written submissions to a specialist costs court hearing on Tuesday, Rebekah’s barrister, Juliet Wells, said Coleen’s total legal bill of £1,833,906.89 ‘has now been settled at £1,190,000, being [approximately] £1,125,000 plus interest of [approximately] £65,000’. 

The court heard that while Coleen was also asking for a further £315,000 in ‘assessment costs’, Costs Judge Mark Whalan ordered Rebekah to pay £212,266.20 of Coleen’s assessment costs, inclusive of VAT but before interest, on top of the £1.19 million settlement.

While Mrs Wells previously called for the ‘grossly disproportionate’ assessment costs to be capped at ‘no more than £100,000’, Judge Whalan said the amount awarded was ‘reasonable and proportionate’. 

He added that while there had been ‘extraordinary expenditure of costs’ on both sides, he was ‘generally happy’ the outcome was a ‘commercially satisfactory conclusion’ for the pair.

Rebekah has made many attempts in the past to bring down the sum she is expected to pay for Coleen’s legal costs which were set at £1,833,906.89 (Pictured: Rebekah and her husband Jamie Vardy) 

The post that started it all: Coleen accused Rebekah’s social media account of leaking stories

Coleen pictured with her husband Wayne Rooney outside the Royal Courts of Justice in May 2022

‘I do mean it when I say that I hope that this is the end of a long and unhappy road,’ he added.

Rebekah’s lawyer previously argued Coleen’s team had used a ‘kitchen sink’ approach when calculating the total and included ‘over £120,000 of costs to which Coleen has no entitlement’.

It was also claimed the bill included costs for one of the WAG’s team to stay at Nobu – a five star luxury hotel – and ‘substantial dinner and drinks charges as well as mini bar charges’.

The lawyer said Coleen’s £1,833,906.89 legal bill was over three times her ‘agreed costs budget of £540,779.07’.

But Coleen’s lawyer, Robin Dunne, had argued it was ‘frankly outrageous’ to accuse them of dishonesty.

Rebekah unsuccessfully sued the I’m A Celeb star in the High Court in 2022 after she was publicly accused of leaking stories about her to the press. 

The catalyst for the famous Wagatha Christie case was a dramatic open letter written by Coleen and posted on social media in October 2019 in which she revealed she had turned detective to figure out who had been leaking the stories.

Coleen publicly claimed Rebekah’s account was the source behind three newspaper stories featuring fake details she had posted on her private Instagram profile – her travelling to Mexico for a ‘gender selection’ procedure, her planning to return to TV and the basement flooding at her home.

Penning that she had a ‘suspicion’ of who it could be, Coleen told her millions of followers that ‘to try and prove this’ she ‘came up with an idea’.

‘I blocked everyone from viewing my Instagram stories except ONE account,’ she wrote.

For the next five months, she uploaded ‘a series of false stories’ to see if ‘they made their way’ into the press.

‘And you know what, they did!’ she penned ‘The story about gender selection in Mexico, the story about returning to TV and then the latest story about the basement flooding in my new house.’

She continued to build suspense, writing: ‘It’s been tough keeping it to myself and not making any comment at all, especially when the stories have been leaked, however I had to. Now I know for certain which account/individual it’s come from.

A court artist sketch of Rebekah wiping away tears as she gave evidence at the Royal Courts Of Justice

Court artist sketch of Coleen and Wayne Rooney (left) and Rebekah Vardy (right) sitting near to each other in the front row at court

‘I have saved and screenshotted all the original stories which clearly show just one person had viewed them.’

And then, she delivered her final iconic line: ‘It’s………. Rebekah Vardy’s account.’ 

What followed was a tearful appearance from Rebekah on ITV’s Loose Women in February 2020 in which claimed the stress over the dispute had caused her to have anxiety attacks so severe she ‘ended up in hospital three times’.

The emotional display was met by Coleen with a statement to say she did not want to ‘engage in further public debate’ on the matter.

Four months later, in June 2020, Rebekah began legal proceedings against Coleen for libel with her lawyers alleging she had ‘suffered extreme distress, hurt, anxiety and embarrassment as a result of the publication of the post and the events which followed’.

At the first preliminary hearing in London’s High Court in November the same year, Mr Justice Warby ruled that Coleen’s famous letter ‘clearly identified’ Rebekah as being ‘guilty of the serious and consistent breach of trust’.

He concluded the ‘natural and ordinary’ meaning of the posts was that Rebekah had ‘regularly and frequently abused her status as a trusted follower of Mrs Rooney’s personal Instagram account’ by secretly informing the press of Coleen’s ‘private posts and stories’. 

When the case returned to the courts in February 2022, a series of explosive messages between Rebekah and her agent Caroline Watt were revealed with Coleen’s lawyers alleging they were about her.

At the first preliminary hearing in London’s High Court, Mr Justice Warby ruled that Coleen’s famous letter ‘clearly identified’ Rebekah (pictured) as being ‘guilty of the serious and consistent breach of trust’ 

When the case returned to the courts in February 2022, a series of explosive messages between Rebekah and her agent Caroline Watt were revealed with lawyers for Coleen (pictured) alleging they were about her 

Rebekah denied that one message calling someone a ‘nasty b****’ was in reference to Coleen.

When asked by defence lawyers to present Ms Watt’s phone so they could further investigate the WhatsApp messages, they were told it had fallen into the North Sea when Ms Watt was on a boat during a holiday.

Coleen was denied permission to bring a High Court claim against Ms Watt for misuse of private information to be heard alongside the libel battle as it was brought too late.

Ms Watt was then dubbed not fit to give oral evidence, revoked permission for her witness statement to be used and withdrew her waiver which would have allowed journalists to say whether she was a source of the leaked stories.

Coleen’s barrister then told the High Court Rebekah ‘appears to accept’ her agent was the source of the leaked stories and argued her new statement suggested this but Rebekah claimed she ‘did not authorise or condone her’.

In May 2022, the women finally came face-to-face in court to give evidence as the Wagatha Christie trial began in the Royal Courts of Justice in London.

Coleen secured her victory the next month when Mrs Justice Steyn delivered her verdict, dismissing the claim made by Rebekah and finding Coleen had proved the meaning of her famous accusatory letter was ‘substantially true’.

Whilst Coleen said she was ‘pleased’ the judge had ruled in her favour, Rebekah declared she was ‘extremely sad and disappointed’ at the decision.

MailOnline has reached out to representatives for Coleen Rooney for comment.