McCartney starts divorce bid
Saturday, July 29, 2006 - 10:22 AM
Paul McCartney has begun formal divorce proceedings, a source close to the star confirmed today.
The former Beatle has taken the first legal steps in separating from Heather Mills McCartney after four years of marriage, the source said.
The news comes 24 hours after McCartney was photographed without his wedding ring during a visit to his fame school in Liverpool.
The source, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Press Association: “He has started proceedings but I don’t know any more than that.”
McCartney, 64, who is said to be worth at least £800 million, wants a “clean break”, UK newspapers reported today.
Reports claimed that he had blamed his wife’s “unreasonable behaviour” for the split and said she was “argumentative” and “rude to staff”.
But a spokeswoman for Lady McCartney, 38, was reported as saying that she would be contesting her husband’s claims.
She said: “Heather’s going to be filing her own counter-claims about matters, both here and in America.
“Any view she has on her divorce will be handled discreetly. She does not feel the need to repudiate claims that she may be headstrong or feisty.”
The couple, who have a two-year-old daughter, Beatrice, confirmed in May that they would split.
It prompted speculation that Lady McCartney could receive as much as £200 million in a divorce settlement.
She has revealed in the past that Sir Paul turned down her offer of a prenuptial agreement that could have limited any claim to his fortune.
Earlier this year they insisted the split would be amicable, but admitted that doing so under media scrutiny and with a young child would be “immensely stressful”.
The couple met in 1999 at a charity event a year after Sir Paul’s wife of 29 years, Linda, died from cancer.
In 2001 they got engaged while on a short break in the Lake District and they wed the next year at a remote countryside castle in Ireland.
Sir Paul already has three children from his marriage to Linda – musician James, photographer Mary, and fashion designer Stella.
He also has a stepdaughter, Heather, from Linda’s first marriage.
