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Most exciting case of all? It's... Wagatha Christie!

Evening Standard

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May 18, 2022

Explosive revelations, frosty receptions and scathing rebuttals: ahead of closing arguments tomorrow, Courts Correspondent Tristan Kirk charts the trial's most unmissable moments

- Tristan Kirk

Most exciting case of all? It's... Wagatha Christie!

WAGATHA CHRISTIE. Wags at War. Wagnarok. Whatever you call it, there's no doubt the clash of the footballers' wives, Rebekah Vardy v Coleen Rooney, has served up six days of utterly compelling legal drama, scandal and intrigue. At the start Rooney's barrister exclaimed "why on earth are we here?" Let's find out.

Coleen 'Roodunnit Rooney

Coleen Rooney kicked off this epic tussle with her explosive social media reveal in October 2019, telling the world she had been sleuthing to find out who was leaking stories from her private Instagram account to The Sun. The payoff, “It's... Rebekah Vardy's account”, instantly entered pop culture folklore and “Wagatha Christie" was born.

When lawyers combed through Coleen's phone, they came across memes with her face photoshopped into a classic Scooby Doo reveal and mocked-up as Miss Marple. But the mother-of-four insisted she took no pleasure in the global media storm that has ensued. “I just think it's ridiculous," she said. “To be honest with you, I've hated every minute."

Coleen, wearing a bejewelled bracelet bearing the names of her four sons, was armed with her trusty notebook and red Anya Hindmarch pencil case throughout the legal battle, taking furious notes as Vardy endured more than three days in the witness box. Vardy had many questions to answer about reams of texts which seemed to suggest she had been leaking stories to The Sun, delivering her answers under the withering glare of Coleen who sat just a few feet away.

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