McCartney divorce battle to continue next week

There is now little hope of any agreed settlement in the Paul McCartney divorce battle with his estranged wife Heather Mills.

It emerged today that Court 34 has been booked for Monday to continue the bitter war of words which centre on Ms Mills’s demands over Paul’s reputed £825m (€1bn) fortune and their four-year-old daughter, Beatrice.

Court officials said today that the case – originally scheduled to end today - will continue after the weekend.

Mr Justice Bennett will then have to decide whether he has heard enough to be able to give a ruling on how the spoils of the marriage will be shared out and the conditions to be imposed on the warring couple.

His judgment, which will follow in a few weeks, will be binding on both former Beatle Paul and Ms Mills but can be challenged at the Court of Appeal.

But that would entail a dramatic change – no longer would the accusations from both sides be kept secret behind the doors of the court in the private Family Division of the High Court.

If either party goes to appeal, the case becomes very public with all the documents and argument open to scrutiny.

It is well known that Paul is anxious to keep the details of his four-year marriage to Ms Mills, a former model who lost part of her leg in a road accident in 1993, out of the public domain.

But Ms Mills has no such qualms – she is reported to be planning a book on the subject which has the potential to earn her millions of pounds worldwide.

Her demands for compensation for potential losses on any book if she agrees to confidentiality are likely to be figuring large at the hearing. Another reason for the length of the case is the fact that she is representing herself, although she does have the benefit of professional legal advice in court.

They married in June 2002, four years after Paul’s first wife Linda died of breast cancer.

There has been speculation that this could be the most expensive divorce in British legal history with Paul, 65, forced to pay out £60m (€80m) or even £100m (€133m) to 40-year-old Ms Mills before he gets his divorce.

The guessing will stop if the case goes to the appeal judges and every allegation levelled by the couple at one another will be laid bare.