Christian Horner’s Mother’s Remark on His ‘Appalling’ Relationship with Geri Sparks ‘Karma’ Debate and Spice Girls’ Reaction

Geri Halliwell was smitten when she first met the handsome multi-millionaire Christian Horner back in 2009, thanks to an introduction by the F1 tycoon Bernie Ecclestone.

Sadly for her, however, the Team Red Bull boss was then in a relationship with Beverley Allen – and the couple were desperate to have their first child together.

But Geri, who is ‘extremely ambitious and determined to get what she wants’, according to those who know her, duly landed her man five years later. Her associates tell me that she was ‘absolutely thrilled’ to have won the affections of the racing chief, and was keen that all the world should know about her new boyfriend and their glitzy life together.

However, there were clues that Geri and Christian’s path to true love was somewhat tricky at the beginning. For one thing, his parents, Garry and Sara, were said to be disgusted and appalled that their son had left Beverley just six months after she had given birth to their longed-for daughter Olivia in October 2013.

Christian’s parents made their views all too clear when a journalist friend of mine approached Beverley at her Cotswolds home some months later to ask if she wanted to comment on Geri having swiped her man. Beverley politely declined and my friend began to leave.

Geri Halliwell was smitten when she first met the handsome multi-millionaire Christian Horner back in 2009, thanks to an introduction by the F1 tycoon Bernie Ecclestone

Sadly for her, however, the Team Red Bull boss was then in a relationship with Beverley Allen 

Only seconds later, he was followed down the driveway by an older woman who called him back to tell him that she and her husband were outraged by Christian’s behaviour. She added in no uncertain terms that they would not be attending the wedding. That lady was Sara – Christian’s own mother.

Her outburst stunned the journalist and – trust me – it is almost unheard of for a parent of a celebrity to overtly disparage their own flesh and blood in this way to a red-top newspaper.

Sure enough, Sara stuck to her word. She and Garry pointedly refused to attend Geri and Christian’s nuptials in May 2015 at Woburn Abbey outside Milton Keynes, and they continued to support Beverley until her tragic death just 11 days ago, at the age of 58, following a two-year battle with eye cancer.

‘It was brutal,’ says one of Geri’s former associates of Sara and Garry’s snub. ‘Geri doesn’t like people to see any bad in her – but when it came to her relationship with Christian, she was blinded and nothing else mattered to her.’

While I understand that Christian has since mended his relationship with his parents, the damage that his unceremonious dumping of Beverley did to Geri’s brand has been described as ‘staggering’.

Geri, meanwhile, has worked hard to abandon much of what made her so popular during her Spice Girls days. Her boundless confidence meant that only she could have pulled off wearing that infamous Union Jack mini dress for the band’s debut single Wannabe – and it was Geri, after all, who announced the group to the world as she belted out the lyrics: ‘I’ll tell you what I want, what I really, really want.’

Today, much has changed from those heady days, including Geri’s wardrobe – which now appears to consist almost entirely of outfits in bland shades of cream and white. She has also added ‘Horner’ to the end of her name as a wifely nod to her husband of ten years.

One former colleague of Geri’s mused to me yesterday: ‘She was once the face of the strong woman: now we see her following her husband around dressed head to toe in white. It’s all a little embarrassing. You have to ask: has she lost some of her dignity and her identity as a strong woman?’

After Geri and Christian got engaged, his mother Sara told a journalist that she and her husband were outraged by their son’s behaviour and would not be attending the wedding 

The pair on their wedding day in May 2015 at St Mary’s Church in Woburn, Bedfordshire

Which brings me to the events of this week – and what they mean for Ginger Spice’s dogged efforts to reinvent herself in recent years. On Wednesday, Red Bull bosses issued a now-notorious statement confirming rumours already circulating throughout the F1 world: Christian had been ditched by his employer of 20 years.

‘Red Bull has released Christian Horner from his operational duties with effect from today… and has appointed Laurent Mekies as CEO of Red Bull Racing,’ read the terse message.

Hours later, the 51-year-old blubbed as he told colleagues of his ‘shock’ at his sacking. At one point, he was so overcome with emotion that he was unable to speak; staff at the racing team applauded him.

Red Bull has still not confirmed the reason for Christian’s abrupt departure, but his dismissal has inevitably prompted speculation that his ‘sexting’ scandal has finally caught up with him. In February last year, screenshots of alleged WhatsApp messages between Christian and a Red Bull employee were leaked anonymously – the day after a three-week external investigation had cleared him of all allegations.

F1 sources suggest that there wasn’t a single trigger for Christian’s departure: instead, several factors had combined to render his position untenable. However, some believe the farrago surrounding his alleged indiscretions behind his wife’s back are the true reason for his exit.

So was it all worth it for Geri, who was left distraught and humiliated when she learned of the messages – and was mortified still further when these were leaked across the showbusiness and sports industries?

‘She has lost so much from getting with Christian,’ says one former friend. ‘She was hell-bent on leaving her roots behind, ditching the brassy Geri that millions loved to become a snooty lady of the manor. She used to be so proud of being a Spice Girl but now she is back on the public’s radar as the woman who got with her husband six months after his partner had given birth – and then stood by him through the humiliating saga of the WhatsApp messages.’

A source said the poshest Geri had been before marrying Christian ‘was when she patted King Charles on the backside’ in 1997

Today, much has changed from those heady days. Life for Geri is mainly about horseriding and her wardrobe appears to consist almost entirely of outfits in bland shades of cream and white

Indeed, I can find precious little sympathy for Geri amid her husband’s downfall. Several people who have worked with or for her over the years have told me privately that this week’s events are somehow ‘karma’.

And if she was hoping for support from her fellow ex-Spice Girls, she’s likely to be disappointed.

In May, Geri infuriated her ex-bandmates when she said during a talk: ‘“Girl Power” was a sweet word for feminism. But if you look in the dictionary and see what feminism means, it means the “equalisation between the sexes”. Therefore, to me it’s irrelevant what your gender is: I want everyone to feel their power, so let’s evolve that word from “Girl Power” to “Inner Power”.’

Geri’s curt dismissal of the band’s legendary slogan sent some of the group into a fury. One source told me: ‘Who is Geri to cancel “girl power”, which was so inspiring to a generation of young women, while she’s wearing white in her plush mansion? Who does she think she is?’

I’m also told that some of the Spice Girls ‘take the p***’ out of their former bandmate and her new pretensions, while others blame her for blocking a Spice Girls reunion because she doesn’t want to relive those days, even if she owes all her fame and fortune to them.

‘There are jokes that the poshest Geri was in the past was when she patted King Charles on the backside [in 1997],’ says one source. ‘She was the outrageous one. Now she actually believes she’s “posh”! She grew up on a council estate and you’d think she would be proud of that – but the way she behaves, she doesn’t seem to be.’

Indeed, Geri’s critics insist that her attempts to adopt a style more in keeping with her husband’s well-to-do country set has at times looked rather contrived. Some years ago she parted ways with her long-serving and loyal publicist Alan Edwards whom she had known since her early Spice Girls days – and signed instead to Pippa Beng, who represents toff ‘luvvies’ such as Jude Law, Matt Smith and Lily James.

‘Geri clearly wanted to pitch herself above what she is by hiring a PR who looks after actual actors rather than a former Spice Girl who wore a Union Jack dress to achieve global fame,’ sniffs one associate.

Recently, however, Geri put Pippa on hiatus – something I expect Pippa may be quietly relieved about, given that Geri would invariably instruct her to complain about anything less than effusive coverage.

Today, life for Geri is mainly about horse-riding and tending to her extensive menagerie, including goats and chickens, at her estates in Oxfordshire and Hertfordshire. As well as being photographed at grand prix races, she was a guest last year at the Goodwood Revival car show, where her and Christian’s eight-year-old son Monty took part in a children’s race.

I can reveal Geri is said to be in discussions for a glossy reality show similar to the Duchess of Sussex’s Netflix effort, ‘With Love, Meghan’ – though Geri hasn’t been keen to see her efforts in that arena made public.

As for where she might go from here, former allies are quick to point out that perhaps she should have been nicer on her way up the ladder.

‘She is learning the hard way,’ explains one former friend. ‘And no amount of wearing innocent white clothing will help her now.’