Geri Horner makes FIRST public appearance alone amid husband's scandal

Geri Halliwell made her first public appearance alone on Wednesday after the scandal that engulfed her marriage to Christian Horner. The Spice Girl smiled as she posed with children at the Hay Festival where she is promoting her latest book, Rosie Frost and the Falcon Queen.

Shying away from her trademark plain white outfits, she dressed in a £695 ($884) white long-sleeved floral blouse with a matching £925 ($1,176) maxi skirt from the Australian brand, Zimmerman, she beamed as she held a signing for her new novel which features main character Rosie, the star describes as ‘a new kind of hero for today’s young readers.’

One onlooker said: ‘Geri looked really smiley and happy. She was having her photo take with loads of kids and even two female police officers who had used their lunch break to meet her. There were lots of people queuing to see their favourite Spice Girl.’ Before her talk the former Spice Girl hung out in the festival’s authors tent alongside the BBC football pundit, Gary Lineker.

According to an insider, Halliwell was in great spirits asking the staff ‘thousands’ of questions, taking interest in fellow speakers and asking for copies of books - in particular, one about the importance of mushrooms. However, she refused to address her anguish over leaked flirtatious messages which her husband of nine years, Red Bull boss Christian, allegedly sent to a female colleague when asked by the Mail.

In February he found himself under investigation following an accusation of ‘inappropriate behaviour’, for which he was later cleared. The woman, in her 40s, went to HR at the Formula 1 team after she received the messages from Horner, often late at night. She accused him of ‘coercive behaviour’ but an internal inquiry chaired by an unknown KC appointed by Red Bull cleared him. Horner has strongly denied any wrongdoing.

On Wednesday Geri was mercilessly mocked by fans after she wished bandmate Mel B a happy birthday on Thursday. Her Instagram account shared a slew of snaps of the longtime friends together but a mistake in the caption quickly revealed that Geri wasn’t the one to make the post. Alongside the images, the caption read: ‘Sent images to Pippa and this wording asked her to tweak where needed. ‘Happy birthday @officialmelb ! Hope you have an amazing day! [party emojis].’

A few minutes later the caption was amended to remove the first line, but not before eagle-eyed fans had spotted it and flooded the comment section with sassy remarks. Fans shared: ‘Brilliant! That’s one heartfelt birthday post!’; ‘I keep refreshing yet it’s still there’; ‘Caption is changed…. But we all saw it’.

‘Confirmation celebs don’t even post legit birthday messages’; ‘When your social media person does a copy and paste’; ‘*insert warm greeting*’; ‘Anyone else singing ‘Goodbye, my Friend’?! as they read this?!’

Others were concerned for ‘Pippa’, joking: ‘Goodbye Pippa, I know you’re gone, you said you’re gone but I can still feel you here’; ‘When your social media person does a copy and paste’; ‘Pippa you in danger girl’ ‘Sending much love to Pippa on this day, she might need a wine glass or two’; ‘Friendship never ends... unless Pippa gets involved’; ‘Pippa, I’d tweak it to add a little more sincerity’; ‘Babe you need to sort your social media manager out.’

Want more stories like this from the Daily Mail? Hit the follow button above for more of the news you need.