Can't Buy Me Love: Paul McCartney divorce is sealed

Mar 17, 2008, 16:03 GMT

A file photograph showing British singer, ex Beatle Paul McCartney (R) and his girlfriend Heather Mills at the United Nations building in Geneva, Switzerland, 11 September 2000. Heather Mills has been awarded 24.3 million GBP (30.9 million Euro) as the well-publicised McCartney divorce case is concluded in London 17 March 2008. EPA/MARTIAL TREZZINI

London - Perhaps he should have known better but now, at the mature age of 65, ex-Beatle Paul McCartney will have fully understood the message of his best-selling title Can't Buy Me Love.

Almost six years after he tied the knot with Heather Mills, the former British model and human rights campaigner, a judge at the Family Division at the High Court in London declared their marriage annulled.

It had all started so well. When Paul met Heather in 1999, while recording a charity single for people who lost their limbs in war zones, he believed he had found 'a second Linda' - a reference to his first wife Linda Eastman who died of breast cancer in April, 1998.

'I'm lucky to have found a good woman who is strong like Linda,' said the ex-Beatle, whose 19-year-marriage with the American campaigner for animal rights and vegetarianism had by all accounts been a happy one.

Heather, meanwhile, had taken up the anti-landmine campaign after losing her left leg when she was hit by a police patrol car on a chase in London in 1993.

'Yeah, I love her,' said Sir Paul in an interview comment on Heather's charity work.

The couple tied the knot in a lavish ceremony in the grounds of Castle Leslie, in the Republic of Ireland, in June, 2002, with Ringo Starr, the only other surviving Beatle, and hundreds more celebrities, in attendance.

When Beatrice Milly, their daughter, was born in October, 2003, Sir Paul, the father of three grown-up children and Heather-Louise, a stepdaughter brought into their marriage by Eastman, was 'over the moon.'

'She is a little beauty and we couldn't be prouder,' said Heather and Paul about their baby.

But the stormy nature of their relationship soon became apparent. The British tabloids had it in for Heather, calling her the 'gold digger' who was after the ex-Beatle's fortune and fame.

On the eve of their engagement, Sir Paul was reported to have flung her sapphire and diamond engagement ring, bought during a trip to India in 2000, out of a Florida hotel window.

Sir Paul's three children, fashion designer Stella, Mary and James, were rumoured, from the start, to loathe their new stepmother and to disapprove of their father's decision.

Immediately after announcing their separation in May, 2006, Sir Paul changed the locks of his London home, took possession of his modern art masterpieces and froze joint bank accounts.

Heather, prone to emotional outbursts, toured the TV studios claiming she had been beaten abused by her 'alcoholic' husband, who was 'mean' and made her 'crawl' to the loo at night because he did not tolerate a bed pan.

Sir Paul rejected the allegations he branded as lies, but otherwise kept a dignified silence during the divorce proceedings.  

The former model, who only enhanced her 'hate figure' status in the media with her outbursts, according to commentators, has let it be known that she plans to leave Britain to live in the US, or France, and that she will 'kiss and tell.'

Despite early attempts to reach an 'amicable' settlement, the  Mills-McCartney break-up degenerated into a bitter battle over millions - with a little girl with a famous name, left the bewildered loser.