Beckhams Settle Libel Case With Newspaper

LONDON -- David Beckham and his wife, Victoria, have settled their libel case against a British tabloid that claimed the couple's marriage was a sham.

The England soccer captain had been seeking libel damages against the News of the World newspaper over an article that carried the headline: "Posh and Becks on the Rocks."

It had been expected that the case would be heard before a judge and jury at London's High Court after the soccer World Cup, taking place in Germany in June.

"The defamation proceedings brought by David and Victoria Beckham against the News of the World have been resolved on a confidential basis," the couple's spokeswoman, Jo Milloy, said in a statement Thursday.

Lawyers for Beckham, 30, and his wife, 31, -- formerly known as Posh Spice of the Spice Girls -- told a pretrial hearing last October that the couple would contest claims that they were maintaining a false image of a happy marriage to protect their financial interests.

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