Rebekah Vardy's agent's phone 'fell into the sea' shortly after the court ordered it to be searched, according to Coleen Rooney's barrister.
In an October 2019 Twitter post, Mrs Rooney accused Mrs Vardy of leaking stories about her private life after carrying out a months-long "sting operation".
The wife of former England star Wayne Rooney, dubbed "Wagatha Christie", claimed Mrs Vardy had shared fake stories she had posted on her personal Instagram account with The S*n newspaper.
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Mrs Vardy, who is married to Leicester City striker Jamie, denies the accusations and is suing Mrs Rooney for libel.
At the start of a two-day hearing on Tuesday, the High Court heard that WhatsApp messages between Mrs Vardy and her now-former agent and friend Caroline Watt had been disclosed ahead of the trial.
According to Mrs Rooney's written case, messages exchanged between Mrs Vardy and Ms Watt in January 2019 showed the pair discussing a post on Mrs Rooney's private Instagram where her car had been damaged.
Mrs Vardy told Ms Watt she "would love to leak those stories x".
Mrs Rooney's barrister David Sherborne said Ms Watt was later responsible for the leak of the story to the newspaper, with Mrs Vardy's approval.
Mr Sherborne said Mrs Vardy and her agent Ms Watt were "routinely" looking at Mrs Rooney's private Instagram stories with a view to having them published.
The barrister told the High Court that Mrs Rooney was making a claim for further information to be disclosed.
He added Ms Watt's phone had fallen into the sea after a boat she was on hit a wave.
He said: "(It was) most unfortunate because it was only a short time after the court ordered that the phone should be specifically searched."
Hugh Tomlinson QC, for Mrs Vardy, said the denied allegations have caused her "huge damage and distress".
In written arguments, the barrister said the information and messages disclosed "provides no evidence that the claimant leaked the three fake posts".
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He added that Mrs Rooney "relies upon selective and incomplete WhatsApp exchanges...conveniently ignoring the messages which demonstrate beyond doubt that the claimant was not responsible for leaking the defendant's private information to The S*n."
In further WhatsApp messages between her and Ms Watt, Mrs Vardy said she had supported Mrs Rooney and suggested it was Mrs Rooney's own PR who had leaked stories.
She wrote: "What a joke! All I've ever been is nice to her though! Even when Wayne was being a c*** x."
She later added: "Bet it's their PR again has to be x... I really can't see anyone being that a**** with selling stories on her."
At the hearing on Tuesday, Mr Sherborne said Mrs Rooney had brought a claim against Ms Watt for misuse of private information, which Ms Watt denies.
Ian Helme, for Ms Watt, said she had given "clear and consistent" denials against the claim for misuse of private information.
The trial is due to begin in early May of this year but it is likely this date may change.
The hearing before Mrs Justice Steyn is due to finish on Wednesday.
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