Setback for Posh in privacy battle

Victoria Beckham has failed to land a knock-out blow in her High Court privacy case against Grazia magazine over what it called a "trivial and anodyne" article.

The former Spice Girl had complained about a story over her "1am crisis talks" with husband David, which appeared in April.

But, Mr Justice Eady, in London, ruled that it was not an appropriate case for summary judgment against publishers Bauer Consumer Media Ltd without a full trial.

Hugh Tomlinson QC had argued that the item about a concerned Mrs Beckham phoning her husband when he went out in Los Angeles was private information protected by law.

"This is an article which we say trespasses into the private sphere in circumstances where there is really no proper justification."

Victoria Beckham failed to land knock-out blow in High Court privacy case

Although there was a large volume of previously published material about the couple, it was up to Victoria Beckham to decide what information she decided to publish about herself to Grazia, he added.

Mr Tomlinson said that it was not a case about freedom of the press or freedom of expression.

It did not matter, he added, if the story was true or false but, in fact, it was made up and came from sources that were either non-existent or spinning a line.

Matthew Nicklin, for the publishers, denied breach of privacy, claiming that the story, which he described as "trivial and anodyne", was reliable and justified.

In any event, he told the judge: "Expectation of privacy depends on who you are and what you do."