McCartney versus Mills - a bitter divorce battle lies ahead

By Anna Tomforde Aug 9, 2006, 12:38 GMT

In this file picture dated 04 July 2002, Sir Paul McCartney (L) and wife Heather Mills are seen during the Men\'s semi final match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, in Wimbledon. EPA/GERRY PENNY

London - The gloves are off - by choosing top lawyers who sealed the divorce of Prince Charles and Princess Diana 10 years ago, Paul McCartney and Heather Mills have signalled that a royal and bloody battle over the end of their marriage lies ahead.

With an estimated fortune of 825 million pounds (1.5 billion dollars), the 64-year-old former Beatle is one of the richest men in Britain and probably the country's most eligible widower.

McCartney and Mills, a 38-year-old former underwear model, announced their split after four years of marriage in May, leaving two-year-old daughter Beatrice at the heart of what has become an increasingly bitter divorce battle.

McCartney, whose American-born first wife Linda Eastman died of breast cancer in 1998, said that when he met Mills it was as if he had found a second Linda.

But initial romance, and delight at the birth of Beatrice Milly in October, 2003, faded quickly as Mills was accused of 'seeking fame' at the expense of her husband and wanting his money.

Sir Paul, who initiated divorce proceedings a few days ago, now accuses Heather of 'unreasonable behaviour' and rudeness towards his staff.

Mills, it is reported, claims in her divorce papers that Sir Paul was a 'mean person,' and that once they were married he became 'boring and selfish.'

Developments came to a head this week when Mills, claiming prior agreement, turned up at McCartney's six-million-pound London home to find that the locks had been changed.

Fuming at not being able to get in, she instructed her security guard to scale a garden wall - which prompted Sir Paul's staff to call the police.

Mills claimed she had a date to hand over Beatrice, but McCartney, who was not in at the time, insisted he was expecting to receive his daughter at his country home in Sussex, southern England, the next morning.

With both camps making claims and counter-claims, it it impossible to know whether Mills, as McCartney suggested, had stage-managed the circumstances to win sympathy.

The McCartney camp has made a point of asking why tabloid photographers happened to be present at the scene.

The embarrassing incident, commentators said, signalled the start of a bitter divorce battle, with earlier pledges of an 'amicable' settlement being long forgotten.

'The gloves are off. Royal battle for Heather and Paul,' headlines said Wednesday.

Mills, reported to be furious at McCartney's decision to file a divorce petition, responded in kind.

Immediately after the lock-out incident, Mills announced that she had hired Anthony Julius, the prominent lawyer who won a 17-million pound divorce settlement for the late Princess Diana in 1996.

'Thank you for giving me wings,' Diana wrote in a letter to Julius afterwards, who is reported to charge 500 pounds an hour in legal fees.

Sir Paul, for his part, has chosen Fiona Shackleton, the lawyer who acted on behalf of Prince Charles and succeeded in barring Diana from carrying the title Her Royal Highness (HRH) after the divorce.

McCartney has also appointed Nicholas Moyston, a barrister known as 'Mr Payout' because of his formidable reputation for winning huge settlements for his clients.

Mills is understood to demand a substantial share of McCartney's fortune, and according to her friends has rejected a 30-million pound offer made by Sir Paul.

Some reports have said she could walk away with as much as 200 million pounds, after recent ground-breaking celebrity divorce cases in Britain showed increased consideration of a divorced wife's 'homemaking' qualities.

Sir Paul's lawyers, meanwhile, are pointing out that the marriage has been relatively short and that the ex-Beatle's status as a 'creative genius' could greatly reduce the sum he has to pay out.

'In the big money cases, especially where there are long marriages, the courts have upheld that instead of going 50/50, if there was a special contribution from one half and that was built up by a uniquely creative element, or genius, the other half would get less than 50 per cent,' leading divorce lawyer Alan Kaufman said.

Nonetheless, McCartney versus Mills would be 'one of the biggest, if not the biggest, divorce case to hit the English courts,' he added.