A GROUP of furious England Wags suspect Rebekah Vardy staged this photo at last summer’s World Cup.
The glamorous shot was taken in the Russian city of St Petersburg, on the eve of England’s first-round game against Belgium.
Rebekah, 37, and eight other wags lined up for their own team photo as they arrived at a swanky island restaurant.
She later shared the picture online along with the simple caption: “Crew.”
But some Wags were angry about the snaps, including Lucia Loi, partner of striker Marcus Rashford, Fern Hawkins, who has a child with defender Harry Maguire, Gemma Acton, wife of defender Gary Cahill, and Annabel Peyton, fiancee of Stoke goalkeeper Jack Butland.
And in the wake of her Wagileaks row with Coleen Rooney, some Wags now believe Rebekah secretly tipped off photographers in a bid to boost her own profile.
Rebekah denies she told the snappers where the group would be.
A source said: “Some of the girls felt uncomfortable. They didn’t want to be in the limelight in Russia.
“They are clued up enough to know that times have changed from the era of Coleen, Victoria Beckham and Cheryl.
“They understand that the best support they can give the players is if things are kept low-key.
“No one could understand how the photographers knew where they were going to be eating that night.
“They didn’t know anything about the meal until the last minute and were horrified when they arrived to see the paps there. A lot of them were mystified.
“They had their suspicions then, and those thoughts have intensified in recent days in the wake of Rebekah’s feud with Coleen.”
Insiders have pointed out that Rebekah — who wore a £700 playsuit — was more dressed up than other women, who believed they were going out for a low-key evening.
They spent the night drinking wine and champagne on picturesque Krestovskiy island on the river Neva, on the edge of St Petersburg, and followed it with a hookah pipe session.
Rebekah was among the last ones standing, ending the night at Japanese restaurant SunDay Ginza at nearly 4am.
But the source added: “The atmosphere was very awkward and tense during the night.
“The girls thought they were going out for a quiet night, and most dressed casually.
“Rebekah was mortified. The atmosphere didn’t improve in the hotel the next day.”
Another source insisted Rebekah was not involved, saying: “No photographers were waiting for the group at the restaurant.
“The picture was taken by a member of the paparazzi who appeared suddenly when the group were posing for a personal group photograph taken by one of the security personnel.”
Rebekah’s husband Jamie, 32, announced his retirement from international football days later after England were knocked out by Croatia in the semi-finals.
He said it was to allow younger players a chance to blossom.
Rebekah’s row with Coleen over leaked stories about the Rooneys erupted last week, four years after suspicions were first raised.
Coleen, 33, told how she turned detective to discover who among her Instagram account followers had been leaking stories — and then named Rebekah. Within hours Rebekah had strenuously denied it.
The feud between them then deepened when Rebekah said: “Arguing with Coleen would be like arguing with a pigeon.
“You can tell it that you are right and it is wrong, but it’s still going to s*** in your hair.”
Since then Coleen has been flooded with messages of support from friends, family and celebrities, as well as from hundreds of thousands of the public.
Coleen claims she proved Rebekah was behind the leaks by blocking all followers except her from viewing private posts.
She said she then posted a series of false stories on her account over five months — and each one subsequently appeared in The Sun.
Each of the stories provided to The Sun was put to Coleen’s representatives before publication, each time they declined to comment.
Rebekah later suggested her Instagram account had been hacked and vowed to hire a cyber expert to prove her innocence.
England boss Gareth Southgate said early in his job about the need for the players to have their families nearby as they fought for glory.
The Wags stayed in a separate hotel in Russia but joined their men on selected days off.
