Paul McCartney's divorce deadlock

Oct 12, 2007, 12:30 GMT

locked for eight hours in a London courtroom with their lawyers and a judge seeking to hammer out a divorce settlement which could be the highest in British legal history. The strictly private session, behind closed doors at the Family Division of the High Court in London, was nonetheless under close scrutiny from the world‘s media determined not to miss the end of a famous celebrity marriage. EPA/MARTIAL TREZZINI

Sir Paul McCartney and Heather Mills' divorce hearing ended in stalemate yesterday (12.10.07).

The pair, who split in May 2006 following a four-year marriage, appeared in London's Royal Court of Justice yesterday (11.10.07) to hammer out a settlement sum but the "tense" eight-hour talks failed to produce an agreement.

A source said: "There is no agreement or deal, and it was a tense day for both of them. They are only civil for the sake of their daughter Beatrice.

"The next few days will show whether they are close to a deal or whether things will descend into conflict."

The door of the sixth-floor courtroom in Holborn was blocked by four chairs and a bodyguard. A spy hole was taped over preventing people from looking in.

Heather - who was helped into a wheelchair and hidden by a blanket when she arrived at the court because her prosthetic limb was said to be causing her discomfort - was reportedly willing to sacrifice £14 million from her payout so she could talk about their relationship on US chat shows and write a revealing autobiography.

Paul arrived 15 minutes after Heather, waving and smiling as he entered the court.

The lengthy discussions were only interrupted when Heather's vegetarian takeaway arrived.

Mr Justice Coleridge's role was to advise the pair what the court would consider a fair settlement.

Talks allegedly ended in deadlock over a privacy clause preventing Heather from discussing their marriage and the former model's annual income from Paul's £825 million fortune.

It is unknown if talks will continue, or if the pair will agree to a formal divorce hearing, which will be expensive and potentially embarrassing as it would be held in open court.

Heather is set to win more than £50 million, making it the biggest divorce settlement in British history.

(C) BANG Media International