September 2017 to October 2019 – The Sun publishes a series of articles about Coleen, including how she traveled to Mexico to address the treatment of “sex selection” babies, her plan to revive her television career and the flooding of her cellars
October 9, 2019 – Coleen took to social media to accuse Rebekah of selling stories from her personal Instagram account to the tabloids.
Coleen says she spent five months figuring out who shared information about her and her family based on posts she made on her personal social media page.
After sharing a series of “fake” stories and using an elimination process, Coleen claims they were viewed from an Instagram account owned by Rebekah.
Rebekah, who was pregnant with her fifth child at the time, denies the allegations and says various people have had access to her Instagram over the years.
She claims to be “so upset” by Coleen’s accusation, later adding, “I thought she was my girlfriend but she absolutely blew me away.”
The public dispute is making headlines around the world, and the hashtag #WagathaChristie is trending.
February 13, 2020 – In a tearful appearance on ITV’s Loose Women, Rebekah says the stress of the argument caused her to have severe anxiety attacks and “ended up in hospital three times”. Coleen says in a statement that she does not want to engage in any further public debate.
June 23, 2020 – It turns out that Rebekah has filed a defamation case against Coleen.
Rebekah’s attorneys allege she “suffered extreme distress, pain, fear and embarrassment as a result of the publication of the post and the events that followed.”
19-20 November 2020 – The defamation battle has its first hearing at the High Court in London. A judge rules that Coleen’s October 2019 submission “clearly identified” Rebekah as “guilty of a serious and consequential breach of trust.”
Mr Justice Warby concludes that the “natural and ordinary” meaning of the posts was that Rebekah “had regularly and frequently abused her status as a trusted follower of Coleen’s personal Instagram account by secretly informing The Sun about Coleen’s private posts.” and stories informed”.
February 8-9, 2022 – A series of explosive messages between Rebekah and her agent Caroline Watt – which Coleen’s attorneys claim related to her – are revealed at a preliminary court hearing.
The court is told Rebekah was not referring to Coleen when she called someone a “bad bitch” in a conversation with Ms Watt.
Coleen’s lawyers are seeking more information from the WhatsApp messages, but the court is told Ms Watt’s phone fell in the North Sea after a boat she was on crashed into a wave before extracting more information from it could become.
February 14 – Coleen is refused permission to bring a High Court case against Ms Watt for misuse of private information, to be heard alongside the libel battle. A High Court judge, Ms Justice Steyn, says the offer was made too late and earlier opportunities to pursue the claim were missed.
April 13 – Ms Watt is unable to testify orally in the forthcoming defamation trial, the High Court is told as the case returns for a further hearing.
The agent revokes permission to use her testimony and withdraws her waiver, which would have allowed Sun journalists to say if she was a source of the allegedly leaked stories.
April 29 – Rebekah “appears to accept” that her agent was the source of alleged leaked stories, Coleen’s lawyer David Sherborne tells the High Court. He argues that new testimony from Rebekah suggests Ms Watt was the source, but Rebekah claims she “did not authorize or condone” them.
Rebekah’s attorney Hugh Tomlinson says the statement contained “no change in the case brought” because her legal team had no communications with Ms Watt.
From May 10th – The process began
July 29 – Rebekah Vardy lost her libel suit against Coleen Rooney, the judge ruling that Ms Rooney’s allegation was “essentially true”.