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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Katherine Heslop

Coleen Rooney 'outraged' at Rebekah Vardy's charity challenge over Wagatha winnings

Coleen Rooney is said to be outraged and insulted at Rebekah Vardy's suggestion she should donate her Wagatha Christie winnings to charity.

Rebekah, 40, sued fellow Wag Coleen Rooney, 36, for libel earlier this year, but after losing the case has been ordered to stump up 90% of her rival's fees, with an initial payment of £800,000 to be paid by November 15.

After the ruling Rebekah took to Instagram, saying Coleen should "put your money where your mouth is" and suggested she donate the sum to charity.

Coleen has reportedly been left insulted by Rebekah's response, with a source telling the Mail : "How on earth can Rebekah tell Coleen to donate the money after she insisted they went to court and spent a vast amount of money before losing 10-0?

Rebekah Vardy has been ordered to pay 90% of Coleen's legal costs (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

"It's outrageous, Coleen repeatedly tried to settle and last year suggested that they down hands and give some money they would otherwise spend on legal fees to charity but Rebekah wanted to take it all of the way.

The insider added that Coleen has since spent the money on lawyers and is "recouping" the money, and the circumstances are different now to when she earlier suggested they hand over the cash to charity.

Mrs Vardy’s camp claim Mrs Rooney, wife of England star Wayne, was never serious about settling.

Coleen and her footie legend husband leaving the Royal Courts of Justice during the Wagatha trial in May (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

On Monday, after the costs order had been published, Rebekah shared on Instagram an image of a jar labelled 'charity' and filled with coins, alongside an extract of a previous quote reportedly from a source close to Coleen discussing the libel drama earlier this year.

"She'd be far happier to see the money they would have spent on lawyers being used in a more positive and productive way," the quote regarding Coleen's apparent attitude to the 'Wagatha Christie' case shared with Rebekah's Instagram followers reads.

Rebekah followed up, writing: "@coleen_rooney Lets hope you put your money where your mouth is and some good can come out of this whole embarrassing spectacle."

Rebekah sensationally lost to Coleen in July after a seven-day blockbuster trial saw a number of revelations about both women and their famous partners made public in the High Court, after Rebekah launched a libel case against her fellow WAG in 2020.

Rebekah launched libel proceedings against Coleen in 2020 after Wayne Rooney's wife accused her Instagram account of being behind leaked 'false stories' about her private life to the press - something Rebekah denied at the time and still does, despite Mrs Justice Steyn ruling in Coleen's favour.

Rebekah is married to Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy (Rebekah Vardy/Instagram)
Rebekah issued a challenge to Coleen on Instagram (Instagram)

In a statement on Tuesday, Mrs Justice Steyn stated the total legal bill - which Coleen is yet to finalise with the court - was estimated by her lawyer Paul Lunt to be around £1,667,860.48

Rebekah has been ordered to pay £800,000 within six weeks and to pay 90% of the costs, which are yet to be finalised.

Mrs Justice Steyn explained that she had done "the best" she could to "estimate the likely level of recovery" but while bearing in mind that Defendant had not yet produced a bill, the cost would be around £800,000.

Mirror has contacted Coleen and Rebekah's representatives for comment

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