Heather hires Diana divorce lawyer

Heather Mills has hired Princess Diana's lawyer as she steps up her divorce battle with estranged husband Sir Paul McCartney.

She will be represented by Anthony Julius, who is rumoured to charge £500 an hour for his services.

Mr Julius will be pitted against Fiona Shackleton - the lawyer used by Prince Charles in the 1996 royal divorce - after she was hired by Sir Paul.

The case is expected to be one of the costliest divorce cases in history.

Mr Julius, dubbed Anthony Genius, won £17million for the Princess. However, Lady McCartney, 38, is in line for a much larger payout and could pocket as much as £200million of Sir Paul's £825million fortune.

Last night London-based lawyers Mishcon de Reya, where Mr Julius is a consultant, confirmed he had been instructed by Lady McCartney. Arepresentative for Mrs Shackleton, of Payne Hicks Beach, refused to comment.

Yesterday Lady McCartney was seen arriving at a top law firm, looking pale and thin.

The couple, who have a two-year-old daughter, Beatrice, announced their split two months ago after four years of marriage.

Last month it was confirmed the 64-year-old had begun formal divorce proceedings following the former model's alleged ' unreasonable behaviour'.

The couple, who met at a charity event in 1999, had insisted the breakup would be amicable but relations between the pair appear to have taken a bitter turn.