Heather 'says No' to Â£30m

Heather McCartney is determined to fight it out in the divorce court.

11 April 2012

When they announced their separation in May, Sir Paul McCartney and Heather Mills promised the split was amicable and - more importantly - would remain so.

Two months on, however, and the gloves - as well as the wedding rings - are off as the couple square up for what could be one of the most acrimonious, drawn out and expensive divorce battles in British legal history.

The 64-year-old singer has issued formal divorce proceedings after the couple failed to reach a deal for a £30million 'quickie' divorce.

In the petition submitted to the courts, he blames the break-up on her 'unreasonable behaviour', claiming the one-time lingerie model was 'argumentative' and 'rude to staff'.

More tellingly - having initially gone out of his way to deny suggestions that Heather had married him only for his money - he now appears to have changed his mind.

According to his friends, her decision to reject his offer for a quick, clean break leave her open to suggestions that she is a 'gold-digger' who is simply after a bigger slice of his £825million fortune.

To try to make sure that does not happen, Sir Paul has hired a team of the country's most feared divorce lawyers. They include Fiona Shackleton, who represented Prince Charles in his divorce from Diana, and Nicholas Mostyn, QC, whose successes have earned him the nickname Mr Payout.

Heather has yet to unveil her legal line-up but she has made clear her determination to fight him all the way.

It is understood that the animal welfare campaigner - who some claim could be entitled to as much as £200million - plans to file counter-claims, accusing Sir Paul of being mean and boring. If the

couple - who have a two-year-old daughter, Beatrice - cannot reach a private compromise, it would raise the prospect of their marital difficulties being thrashed out in a public court room, including Heather's acrimonious relationship with her step-children.

A close friend of Sir Paul was yesterday quoted as saying: 'Paul is a reasonable guy who doesn't like confrontation.

'In his eyes they agreed they wanted to make the divorce quick and painless and a settlement was virtually in place - but then Heather started getting unreasonable because she wanted more money,' he told the Sunday Mirror. 'It appears she wants as much as she can and has left herself to suggestions that she's a gold-digger.'

Such claims are said to have infuriated 38-year-old Heather. Sources close to her said there had been no financial offer and the idea she was after his money was 'outrageous'.

'Paul has always been tight with his money towards her,' a friend was quoted as saying in the Sunday Mirror. 'She was having to pay the mortgage on their Hove home where she is based until a few months ago.

'She even went on chat shows to raise money to pay staff, people like her secretary. This is likely to form part of her counter-claim.'

The couple met in 1999 and married three years later in Ireland. She will claim that, having courted her assiduously, Sir Paul became 'boring' after their wedding, preferring to stay at his 160-acre estate in East Sussex while she pursued an energetic social life at their home in St John's Wood, North London.

Sir Paul did not make his bride sign a pre-nuptial agreement because he thought it was unromantic and had little likelihood of being enforced under British law.

The couple split in May this year, with Sir Paul complaining he was being treated like a 'doormat'.

The day their separation was announced, he issued a statement saying there was 'not an ounce of truth' in suggestions that Heather had married him for his money.

He was later shocked by allegations about his wife's past, including claims she worked as a prostitute servicing Arab princes - allegations she vehemently denies.

A spokesman for Sir Paul yesterday said reports of a bitter divorce battle were 'pure speculation'.

Heather's spokesman said: 'Money is the least of Heather's interests. The figures being bandied about are completely untrue. It [the divorce] is still at its early stages and they haven't got to [the money] yet. It's not acrimonious. They are talking every day about Bea.'

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