Former Beatle Paul McCartney and animal rights activist
Heather Mills have ended their four-year marriage as well as bitter divorce
battle with the singer being ordered on Monday to pay his estranged wife nearly
$50 million.
Sir Paul McCartney and Heather Mills married in 2002, taking
many by surprise, but professed to be deeply in love with each other. They
welcomed daughter Beatrice Milly the following year; she is now 4-years-old.
In May 2006, the couple announced their separation, saying
they had “found it increasingly difficult to maintain a normal relationship
with constant intrusion into our private lives.”
It was not an easy separation, as Heather Mills, 25 years
McCartney’s junior, soon made shocking allegations against her husband. It is
all nearing its end though.
McCartney and Mills were both at
The charity campaigner spoke outside court, confessing she
was both pleased with the result and angry, still, with McCartney, The Times
Online reports. Mills said her estranged husband had offered her £15.8 million,
while the ruling awarded a total of £16.5 million in cash and £7.8 million in
assets.
“The most important thing for me is to get this over and
done with,” she added.
She also told reporters that the judge estimated McCartney’s
assets to be worth £400 million, although “everyone knows he's worth £800 over
the last 15 years,” and criticized “these people” for being “in a club.”
Mills has been constant in her finger pointing and the media
has not taken her side. Despite insistently denying allegations that she is a “gold-digger,”
it is an appellative she will not easily shed, if ever.
The 40-year-old said today she would appeal against the decision to make the entire judgment public, in order to protect her daughter. Beatrice is her only child. McCartney has four adult children, including fashion designer Stella McCartney, from his marriage to Linda McCartney.