'Sir Paul refused me pre-nuptial pact'

Heather Mills offered to sign a prenuptial agreement before marrying Paul McCartney but he turned her down, she has revealed.

The former model says she was prepared to draw up an agreement which would protect the billionaire ex-Beatle's fortune if they split in order to show that her affection was genuine.

"I wanted to prove that I love him for him," she says. "He said, 'I wouldn't let you.' "

But she adds that she will 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."

Speaking to Vanity Fair magazine, she also talks candidly about home life with her new husband - revealing intimate secrets about the relationship with the man she calls her "soulmate".

The new Lady McCartney - who wed Sir Paul, 59, at Castle Leslie Estate, in County Monaghan, Ireland in June - adds: "Our favourite thing is to stay home. I cook a meal and he dances around the room like Fred Astaire.

"We're great for each other. I could eat him. I think when you find your soul mate, you could sleep under their armpits. I'm like a little dog. He says, 'You're always sniffing me!' I'm really happy. It's incredibly passionate. It's intense all the time, and we love each other's company."

In the interview Lady McCartney also expertly glosses over a number of reports about Sir Paul's children disliking her and a pre-wedding argument which ended up with her engagement ring "falling" out of a fifth-floor hotel window.

Just weeks before the wedding, newspapers in both the United States and Britain reported that she and Sir Paul engaged in a screaming match in their Florida hotel suite.

According to a security guard, the argument became so heated that Sir Paul yelled: "I don't want to marry you. The wedding's off" as he threw her £15,000 ring out the window. Sir Paul reportedly had to call security guards at the Turnberry Isle Resort and Club in Miami to search the hotel garden for the ring.

But when questioned about the incident, Lady McCartney simply said: "We were playing a game, having a joke, doing catch with the ring."

Lady McCartney, 34, maintains that she gets on famously with Sir Paul's children, despite the reports of a fierce feud.

She says: "We get on so well it's hilarious." She adds that Heather McCartney (Linda's daughter, whom Paul adopted) is very friendly. "We speak every day. We are so close she's like another sister."

Lady McCartney says Stella McCartney did not design her wedding dress because "she never offered".

The former model, who has suffered two ectopic pregnancies, says that the couple are relaxed about the idea of having children. "I just say, 'What will be will be.' I adore kids, and if it happens it happens, but I've seen too many people get too upset about it."

Sir Paul's daughters Stella and Mary are meanwhile planning to visit a breast cancer unit dedicated to their late mother this week.

The visit is scheduled for Friday, when the sisters are expected to spend two hours at the Linda McCartney Centre, based at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital.

It will be the first time they have visited the £4million specialist facility, which was built after a five-year fundraising campaign, and dedicated to Linda who died of breast cancer in 1998. Their father gave his blessing for the centre to be named after his late wife. It was opened by Cherie Blair in November 2000.

The October issue of Vanity Fair is available from Friday.