Paul & Heather: Inside Their Bitter Split

Us Weekly Magazine: June 2006

For Heather Mills McCartney, it was a case of bad timing. As honorary co-chairwoman of Farm Sanctuary, she was scheduled to speak at the organization's gala at Cipriani Wall Street in NYC on May 20. She was even quoted in the program, noting, "It's only since I met Paul that I really got to understand vegetarianism." Alas, the activist had to back out three days before the event. "She couldn't come because of everything going on," one organizer explained to Us, before handing over the evidence: a typed copy of Heather and estranged husband Paul McCartney's May 17 breakup statement, which read: "Having tried exceptionally hard to make our relationship work given the daily pressure surrounding us, it is with sadness that we have decided to go our separate ways."

Ah, but this was no ordinary celebrity split. With Paul's estimated worth of $1.6 billion and no prenup on the table, British tabloids feasted on Heather's enormous payday after just four years of marriage (the couple have a daughter, Beatrice, 2). One paper even reasoned that Heather, who, at 38, is 26 years younger than Paul, would get up to $1.7 million for every week they were wed. At the time of their $3.2 million wedding at the 17th-century Castle Leslie in Ireland in June 11, 2002, Heather had offered to sign a prenup - but Paul refused, she told Vanity Fair in 2002. Despite her gesture, a source maintains, "All of Paul's friends and family knew Heather was a gold digger from the start. They are sad for him but celebrating that the Heather era is over." After the breakup, the gold digger buzz grew so intense, the ex-Beatle implored on his Web site, "I'm really disappointed that during a very difficult time . . . it's been suggested that she married she for the money and there is not an ounce of truth in this."

So what does everyone have against Heather, an ex-model, author, and longtime humanitarian activist? After all, she survived a horrific childhood (her mother abandoned the family, her father was jailed for fraud and she lived on the streets as a teen) and, as a result of a 1993 motorcycle accident, had her left leg amputated. It was actually her resilience that impressed the Beatle, who was smitten with Heather when he saw her give a stirring speech at a charity dinner in 1999. "I got in touch with her and had a couple of meetings," he recalled two years later. Friendship grew into romance, "and that really helped my creativity," he explained, adding, "It sort of gave me more to live for."

It was long evident, however, that Heather and Paul's road to happiness would be long and winding. At the time of their meeting, Heather was engaged to another man, and Paul was mourning the death of his beloved wife of 29 years, Linda, who died of breast cancer in 1998. (The couple had three children: Mary, 36; Stella, 34; and James, 29. Paul also raised Linda's daughter from a previous relationship, also named Heather, 42.) Filling Linda's shoes wasn't easy. In fact, soon after the wedding, Heather acknowledged the tension between her and her stepkids. "Things are fine," she told Vanity Fair, "But . . . there are degrees of getting on fine." One source even contends that the British press often got their nasty scuttlebutt straight from fashion designer Stella, who, the source says, "fed friends things in hope it would get to the press." (Stella's rep could not be reached for comment.)

Heather and Paul were so at odds at times, they almost didn't make it down the aisle. A month before their wedding, they had a heated argument at a Miami hotel and she reportedly yelled, "The wedding's off!" hurling her $25,000 engagement ring from the balcony.

And whereas Linda was serene and maternal, sources say Heather was volatile and controlling. The British media asserted Heather was the mastermind behind Paul's every move, from his dyed brown hair to his 2004 appearance on the UK's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. (Paul denied all.) "She was constantly on Paul's case," says a source. "It really got him down." She didn't save all her nastiness for Paul: When the couple stayed at a hotel in Jaipur, India, in 2004, she was so horrid to the staff, a source tells Us, hotel workers hid her prosthetic leg. "Heather was mad, but everybody else felt it was sweet revenge," says a source.

By last fall, the strain between the couple was on display once again. During the Adopt-a-Minefield gala in NYC, Paul (with Heather) told Us, "When you're together, you do better work. She writes most of my stuff!" Heather's reply? A frosty, "I don't need the hassle of that!"

While some sources insist Paul called it quits, others contend Heather pulled the marital plug after an April 3 operation on her injured leg. She retreated alone to the couple's $9.4 million home in London, while Paul stayed in their English countryside estate. (They have nine homes in the U.S., England, and Ireland in total.) "You don't care!" she reportedly told him, in a post-op rage.

With divorce looming, how ugly can it get? "She's entitled to a substantial amount," London-based divorce attorney Mark Harper tells Us. And according to the UK press, both parties will want full custody of Beatrice.

For now, both Heather and Paul are left to pick up their personal pieces. Paul is currently prepping a new classical album. "He's devastated that what a lot of people told him about Heather is true," says a source. A frail Heather meanwhile, was spotted in London on May 20, boarding a flight to Slovenia. She was not wearing her wedding ring. The band, however, is prominently featured on the cover of her new book, the ironically titled Life Balance - The Essential Keys to a Lifetime of Well-Being, which was released in the U.K. May 25 by Penguin. "For now, she's not available and I'm respecting her privacy," says her rep, Anya Noakes.

As much as both parties hurt, insiders agree that a separation is the best resolution. "Both of them are strong-minded and opinionated," says a source. "It worked when they agreed on things."

Paul denied bad blood between Heather and his kids, but there's evidence she ruffled feathers.

The dress: Heather reportedly nixed a Stella McCartney wedding dress for being too "tarty." Heather's sister denied the tale.

The home: Heather allegedly urged her husband to leave the house his kids grew up in, in favor of splitting time between Paul's London home and Heather's beach pad in Hove.

The snub: A British paper said Heather didn't invite the kids to Paul's 61st birthday party.

The S-E-X: Their stepmom reportedly boasted about her hot sex life with Paul.

In his statement on the split, Paul touts Heather's selfless volunteer work as evidence that she didn't marry for money. Nevertheless, she stands to receive a serious chunk of his estimated $1.6 billion.

In England, a prenup might not have altered the amount to which Heather is entitled; it is at the judge's discretion. U.S. divorce attorney Nancy Chemtob, who deals with expatriate divorces (but not this one), guesses Heather will receive 25 percent of Paul's earnings since their date of marriage, though it could be much more. "Her case will be based on what she reasonably needs," says London-based attorney Mark Harper, who is not working for either McCartney. "Clearly it is going to be very substantial," he added.

Because of Beatrice, Harper points out that Heather may also receive a house or two. "There shouldn't be a great difference in the standard of living between the two parents," says Harper. His guesstimate? "It could well be $94 million." And that doesn't include a (luxe) roof over Bea's head.