'Dinner, drinks and mini bar costs': The £1.8m legal bill bringing Coleen Rooney back to court

Coleen and Rebekah's legal feud heats up as their barristers argue at the High Court in London, ITV News Reporter Charlie Frost has the latest

Rebekah Vardy has challenged Coleen Rooney's "extraordinary" legal bill of more than £1.8 million from their high-profile Wagatha Christie libel battle.

Vardy sued Rooney for libel after Rooney accused her of leaking private information to the press on social media in 2019.

In July 2022 it was ruled that Rooney's accusation was “substantially true” and Vardy was ordered to to pay 90% of Rooney's legal costs.

Rebekah Vardy and husband Jamie. Credit: PA

However, two years later, lawyers for both women are back in court in a dispute over the final bill, which now totals £1,833,906.89.

Vardy's lawyer claims that the amount is three times the original “agreed budget".

Vardy's barristers called some of Rooney's costs "extraordinary," but what are they?

  • Mrs Rooney’s barrister, David Sherborne's legal fees (£497,850)

  • A lawyer's stay at the Nobu Hotel (reportedly around £2,000)

  • Dinner, drinks and minibar tab (£225)

On Tuesday, Rooney’s barrister, Robin Dunne, said the comments gave a “misleading and factually inaccurate” account of the new legal costs.

He added that Vardy's barristers had tried to argue that Rooney's spending was recklessly extravagant.

“There are some factual inaccuracies. It is both misleading and factually inaccurate and it is potentially defamatory, and steps are being taken in that respect," Dunne said.

Dunne claimed one of Rooney’s solicitors only stayed at the hotel due to a problem with their original booking elsewhere.

He went on to say that the minibar tab “ran to £7" and was only for two bottles of water.

Jamie Carpenter KC, for Vardy, said in response: “We do say that the defendant’s costs are extravagant, but the line-by-line issues are for another occasion.”

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Neither the wife of Jamie Vardy, Leicester City footballer, nor the wife of Wayne Rooney, former Manchester United footballer, were present in court.

The hearing is set to conclude on Wednesday.

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