By Philippe Naughton

The former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney is seeking a trial separation from his wife, Heather Mills, a source close to the couple said today.

Sir Paul married Ms Mills, 38, a former model, in June 2002, four years after his first wife, Linda, died of cancer. The couple had a daughter, Beatrice, a year later.

The pair met through Ms Mills's charity work for the Heather Mills Heath Trust, recycling prosthetic limbs and campaigning against landmines. She had formed the charity after losing a leg in a motorbike accident in 1993.

The separation, due to confirmed in a statement today, follows reports of a series of rows between the couple, who are thought to have been living at separate addresses in recent weeks.

Sir Paul, 63, is said to be living on the family farm in Peasmarsh, East Sussex, about 50 miles away from his wife, who is reported to be at the couple’s home in Hove.

But Ms Mills last week denied rumours that the marriage was on the rocks, and put the stories of a split down to her hiding from photographers who wanted a picture of her on crutches after a recent operation.

She told one newspaper: "It’s hilarious. Of course we are together. Paul and I are still very much together. Paul and I are together 100 per cent."

Ms Mills has revealed in the past that she offered to sign a prenuptial agreement before marrying Sir Paul, but said he turned her down.

The former model said she was prepared to draw up an agreement which would protect the ex-Beatle’s estimated £800 million fortune if they split to show that her affections were genuine but Sir Paul considered the move unromantic.

"I wanted to prove that I love him for him," she told Vanity Fair in 2002. But she told the magazine that she would always remain financially independent.

"I believe every woman should have a reserve, because you never know what will happen in life. Guys can get bored, especially if they feel they’ve just got you there," she said.

Sir Paul already has three children from his marriage to Linda, who died in 1998 - musician James, photographer Mary, and fashion designer Stella. He also has a stepdaughter, Heather, from Linda’s first marriage.

Just found this on the MSN 'Entertainment' section.



'Mills 'could get £200m settlement'

Sir Paul McCartney could be heading for the biggest divorce case Britain has ever seen, according to legal experts.

Lady McCartney could walk away with around £200 million of his £800 million fortune despite being married to the former Beatle for just four years.

Sir Paul is Britain's richest musician and made £48.5 million last year from record sales and his US tour.

Leading divorce lawyer Alan Kaufman, head of family law at London firm Finers Stephens Innocent, said: "This will be one of the biggest, if not the biggest, divorce cases to hit the English courts, if it gets that far.

"This area is a minefield. The courts have a very wide discretion. There are no hard and fast rules except that the wife is entitled to a 'fair settlement'.

"But you ask any ordinary person in the street whether they think Lady McCartney should get £200 million after a four year marriage.

"Sir Paul made his money long before she came along. His fortune was created because of his genius, nothing to do with her.

A case currently awaiting judgment in the House of Lords will have a significant impact on a McCartney divorce settlement.

City fund manager Alan Miller is contesting a Court of Appeal ruling which awarded his wife Melissa a £5 million share of his £20 million fortune for a marriage which lasted only two years and nine months.

The law lords are expected to deliver their verdict any day now on whether the ruling should be upheld.'



I personally hope she doesn't get any of his money. But what are the chances of that happening? :roll:

It's quite appauling that these people (i recall one single case of a man doign this to a woman, though i'm sure there are more - but generally it's most definately the women who benefit from this system) get so much profit for having done bugger all.

I wish i could earn £5m, or £200m for doing a bit of housework each day.

I want to be a 'househusband' and scrounge lots of money off my hardworking wife, while giving little to nothing in return.
That would be empowering.

We have a running joke in our family regarding 'Lady McCartney' and her similarity to Long John Silver - they are both gold-digging monopeds! :badgrin:

Excellant analogy - i love it!!!

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006360565,00.html

Lady Mucca's war of lies
By VICTORIA NEWTON
Showbiz Editor

THE McCARTNEY divorce is going to be the most bitter high-profile split since Charles and Diana’s ten years ago.


Heather Mills, dubbed Lady Mucca after The Sun exposed her porno past, has hired the same lawyers used by the late Princess as she battles Macca for his millions.

Although she once claimed she had no interest in the former Beatle’s £800million fortune, ex-hooker Heather went to see top divorce firm Mishcon de Reya this week.

The Monday meeting she had with SIX of their top legal eagles went on for FIVE HOURS.

A source close to the 38-year-old ex-model said: “They wanted to go through every minute detail about the marriage and forthcoming divorce.

“Heather now has a month to get her defence in before the divorce takes place.”

She has ordered the London-based legal team to fight Sir Paul for an incredible £200million.

Macca and Mucca went to extraordinary lengths to avoid each other yesterday during the handing over of their daughter Beatrice, two.

Heather and Paul, 64, arranged the tot swap with military precision so they wouldn’t see each other.

Macca swept IN to his London home half an hour after Heather was driven OUT — with the pain of the split clearly etched on his face.

The previous night Heather had turned up at the smart address to find the locks had been changed.

Police were called by Macca’s staff as her security guard tried to climb a fence.

A source said: “Heather turned up unannounced.

“She had made no arrangement with Paul to spend the night at the house.

“She is always breaking the arrangements made for the handover of Beatrice. She seems to do it to create publicity.”

Heather later spent the night there with Beatrice but only after police had questioned her and a member of Macca’s staff grudgingly allowed her to get inside.

Sir Paul ordered all the locks on his properties to be changed after the phone at his Peasmarsh estate in Sussex was bugged earlier this year — and the tape strangely ended up in Heather’s hands.

She challenged him over a conversation he had had with his daughter Stella, in which Stella had attacked her stepmother.

A pal of Macca’s said: “Paul is paranoid about his security ever since he found out about his home being bugged.

“That’s why he changed the locks on his London house too.”

To some observers it may seem odd that Heather’s every move is reported in the press.

There always happens to be a sympathetic photographer on hand to capture the moment when “poor Heather” is forced to carry her own bags or struggle with baby Beatrice as a result of “heartless” Macca “abandoning” her.

Coincidence? Surely not.

Why is it that Paul manages to go about his daily business largely un-noticed?

Because he wants to.

The truth is that Paul has always paid for Heather to have a full team of aides to cater for her every whim.

She has a full-time nanny, a personal assistant, driver, two security guards and two PR advisors.

Paul also happily forked out thousands of pounds


------------------------


I like this sarcasm from the sun:



To some observers it may seem odd that Heather’s every move is reported in the press.

There always happens to be a sympathetic photographer on hand to capture the moment when “poor Heather” is forced to carry her own bags or struggle with baby Beatrice as a result of “heartless” Macca “abandoning” her.

Coincidence? Surely not.

Why is it that Paul manages to go about his daily business largely un-noticed?

Because he wants to.



£200 million (that's sterling folks) probably because she thinks "she's worth it." Paul McCartney is a great musician, but he's still a mangina.

Except, Long John Silver was actually a cool character.

I find this case very interesting .
The sun is a well known man-hatin paper ,yet seems to be more pro Paul ,than Heather .
Oddly enough ,I am not comfortable with the constant "attacks" on Heather McCartney , it seems to be going way over the top .
Now, I wonder ,why is The Sun ,and the rest of the manhating "Fleet Street" doing this ? My answer , it is so that its man hating feminist columnists (check out Jane Moore ) can ,in years to come point to the media coverage and say "look how the media paints men whiter than white ,and women as evil"
What does everyone else think ?

Yes I'd say it has a good chance of what you suggest, sealion. I think also, there's a chance they're "pandering", not just to women, but beatle fans. It may sound a bit silly, but the Beatles were huge - and to attack one of them might well do the Sun some damage. Whereas Heather is virtually a no-one.

Karl very good - incisive .What you say makes a lot of sense.
You know the media.They run with the hare and hunt with the hounds.
Hence they are not to be trusted. The tabloids are misandrist because mostly women read them. They would be calling a man a love rat or a cad or some such thing for similar behaviour and really piling on the abuse.
The media though in the long run are in trouble with men.
I watch less and less tv only football matches in the pub.I know for sure less and less people are buying papers.The media are too full of their own importance to realise how irrelevant they are to intelligent people.
They are a joke -the misandrist Guardian even more so because they think they are intelligent.