Heather: Gold-digger attacks worse than losing leg

Heather Mills McCartney has described her despair at being labelled a “gold-digger” in a book to be published next week.

She describes allegations that she targeted husband Paul McCartney for his money as “worse even than losing my leg” in the self-help guide she has co-authored.

The couple confirmed yesterday that they had agreed to separate after four years of marriage, saying they had found it “increasingly difficult” to maintain a normal relationship in the glare of the public eye.

Last night, McCartney also hit back at suggestions that his wife had only married him “for the money” and called her a “generous person”.

His comments came as lawyers speculated that Heather could stand to get £200m (€294.9m) in any future divorce settlement.

In her book, a 200-page guide entitled Life Balance: The Essential Keys to a Lifetime of Well-being, Heather discusses how to “nurture your mind, body and soul”. It contains personal anecdotes and describes her “open and loving” marriage.

However, in a chapter on self-esteem she describes how she found life increasingly difficult after marrying McCartney.

She writes: “I’ve been in the public eye for some years, ever since I lost my leg, but I had no problems with my relationship with the media until I got married. The press made me out to be a gold-digger and I decided to keep my mouth shut and say nothing.

“Looking back, I think that was a mistake. That period turned out to be the darkest and most difficult in my life, worse even than losing my leg.”

In the book, she says wealth is not the key to happiness, writing: “I have learned that peace of mind has very little to do with luxury or leisure.”

In a section on communication, she says: “Countless relationships – between nations and individuals – could be healed through proper communication.”

She adds: “I have to admit that I haven’t always been the best communicator. I really had to work at it.”

She also emphasises her role throughout the book as a “working mother”, saying: “When our daughter was born I recognised that if I was going to continue to do the things I enjoy, such as seeing my friends, having time with my husband, going to the gym and focusing on my work, I would have to learn to balance all these different elements of my life.”

The couple met in 1999 at a charity event a year after McCartney’s first 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 countryside castle in Ireland.

Heather gave birth to the couple’s daughter, Beatrice Milly, who is now two, in the autumn of 2003.

Since the beginning of their relationship, Paul and Heather have been dogged by critics attacking her motives for being with the pop legend.

She has revealed in the past that she offered to sign a prenuptial agreement before marrying Paul, but said he turned her down.