30 July 2006
McCARTNEY EXCLUSIVE: GOLD-DIGGER
MACCA: FANCY A £30M QUICKIE? HEATHER: NO WAY
By Ben Todd Showbusiness Editor
SIR Paul McCartney believes estranged wife Heather is a "gold-digger" because she has rejected a £30million quickie divorce offer. When they split he defended Heather against claims that she was only after his money. Since then he has changed his opinion and he is accusing her of reneging on a financial deal he thought they'd agreed to ensure a quick and amicable divorce.
Heather, 38, however, insists that there has been NEVER been any agreement on money.
Last night, a close friend of the former Beatle said: "Paul believes Heather wants as much money as she can get. He thinks she is proving herself to be nothing better than a gold-digger."
The Sunday Mirror has been told that Heather initially indicated she would agree to a "quick and painless" divorce with Macca following their break-up in May. In the proposed settlement, she would have received around £30million of Macca's £1billion fortune.
But he claims that she is now stalling and has rejected the offer, believing she wants to hang on to the kudos of being Lady Paul McCartney for as long as she possibly can.
And we understand she is pushing for a settlement figure nearer £200MILLION.
Sir Paul, 64, has hired Prince Charles's divorce lawyer Fiona Shackleton, in what is now promising to be one of the most bitter matrimonial battles ever.
Normally, the lawyers of both parties agree a wording for the reasons for the marriage breakdown and the terms of the settlement - and a court would simply rubber stamp the agreement.
Family lawyer Caitlin Jenkins explained: "If they can't even agree the wording of the petition - normally the easiest part for couples - it does not look promising for sorting out finances."
More importantly, she said, it does not bode well for an agreement over their baby daughter, Beatrice.
"They're heading for the doomsday scenario : Heather can cross-petition and then they'll battle it out in court, probably open court at that," she said.
Sir Paul has filed proceedings citing Heather's unreasonable behaviour, accusing her of being argumentative and rude to his staff. We have learned she is likely to counter-claim that the billionaire is mean with money and, once they had married, became boring and selfish.
Yesterday, a close friend of Sir Paul revealed: "Paul is a reasonable guy who doesn't like confrontation. He wanted to keep the divorce quick and amicable for the sake of Beatrice - but feels Heather is being difficult and trying to drag things outs.
"In his eyes they had 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.
"She wants as much as she can. She's a gold-digger."
The friend continued: "Paul never wanted to go down this route, but Heather left him with no choice in the end."
Yesterday the accusations infuriated Heather. A close acquaintance said: "There has been no financial offer ... she is outraged by the suggestion she's a money-grabber.
"Paul has always been tight with his money towards her. 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 day after they announced their split, Sir Paul seemed convinced that Heather was not after his cash.
He issued a statement saying: "It's been suggested that Heather married me for money. There is not an ounce of truth in this. She is a very generous person who spends most of her time trying to help others."
And in her own self-help book published in May, Heather wrote that being labelled a gold-digger was "worse than losing my leg".
Now, close friends of Macca believe Heather is also stalling on the divorce because she does not want to lose the status of being Lady Heather Mills-McCartney. The friend added: "Heather loves being Lady -McCartney. It has given her power and influence.
"For example, she's met many of the major world leaders ... and has become a world famous celebrity on the back of it. And she is terrified that when she returns to being plain Heather Mills all that will be lost."
Both camps are now preparing for one of the most acrimonious divorces in showbusiness history. Heather is preparing to claim that Paul became "boring" after their marriage in Ireland in June 2002.
When they first started dating in 1999, he wooed her with romantic gestures including sending her flowers and taking her to exclusive restaurants. But after they wed, according to sources close to Heather, his attitude changed.
She wanted a rich social life based at their homes in St John's Wood in Central London or on the Sussex coast at Hove.
But Paul preferred to stay at his rambling 160-acre estate in Peasmarsh, Sussex - his main home throughout his 29-year marriage to Linda and where his children were brought up.
A friend revealed: "Before their marriage, it was as if Paul acted younger than he was. But once he'd got a ring on Heather's finger, he reverted to type. Heather wanted a social life, but Paul preferred to stay at home, as he had done with Linda. So Heather felt like he wasn't the man she had married."
The friend continued: "She is prepared to throw everything at Paul now."
Macca chose not to make Heather sign a pre-nuptial agreement before their wedding because he said it was unromantic - and has little legal recognition in UK law.
The couple met in 1999 at our sister paper The Daily Mirror's Pride Of Britain Awards. They wed three years later, and he walked out on her in May this year after becoming fed-up with being a "doormat."
At first the split seemed amicable, but has turned increasingly bitter.
The Sunday Mirror was told earlier this month how Macca had been left stunned after finding out a private conversation between him and his daughter Stella had been bugged.
The tape - which featured Stella launching a ferocious attack on Heather - was played to him by his estranged-wife.
She insisted she had received it from a third party and there is no suggestion she had anything to do with the bugging. We also revealed how Heather had threatened to stop Beatrice seeing Stella, who is her half-sister.
At the same time, Heather's sordid past as a porn star has been exposed in shocking detail. There have even been allegations she was a prostitute, though she has vowed to sue over these claims once her divorce has been finalised. Macca told friends he did not know of Heather's alleged sordid past and it may now be used to reduce the divorce settlement.
Since their split, Macca has mostly stayed at the Peasmarsh farm, while Heather divides her time between Hove and her sister's house nearby. But she has recently moved into a £500,000 converted barn just 15 minutes from Peasmarsh.
Last night, a spokesman for Sir Paul declined to comment.
'They're heading for a doomsday scenario'
'She's prepared to throw everything at Paul now'
ben.todd@sundaymirror.co.uk
source:
http://www.sundaymirror.co.uk/news/t...name_page.html
Now that gives me an idea...........
Wish you were here... :-(
Thanks PB!
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