Soccer star David Beckham and his wife Victoria are considering taking legal action over a newspaper story about their marriage, a spokesman for the couple said Sunday.
The Beckhams failed late Saturday for a court order to bar the News of the World from publishing allegations by the couple’s former nanny, Abbie Gibson.
Their lawyers had argued that Gibson’s contract included a promise not to speak about the couple’s private lives. But the News of the World said a judge ruled in its favor on grounds that the story was in the public interest.
After the newspaper appeared Sunday morning, the Beckhams were “consulting our lawyers with a view to taking legal action,” their spokesman said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Gibson told the News of the World she witnessed a series of rows between David Beckham and his wife. Gibson, who worked for the couple from August 2003 until she quit earlier this month, also claimed Victoria told her that her husband wanted to split up.
The marriage of Britain’s No. 1 celebrity couple first hit the headlines a year ago when a former personal aide, Rebecca Loos, claimed she and Beckham had had a 10-day affair. He dismissed the claim as “ludicrous” and “absurd.”
Victoria Beckham, a former member of the Spice Girls band, and her husband, who plays for Spanish club Real Madrid, have three young sons.