Janice
05-17-2006, 10:27 AM
Ex-Beatle McCartney blames media for marriage split
LONDON (Reuters) - Former Beatle Paul McCartney and his second wife Heather Mills are to separate after four years of marriage, the couple confirmed in a statement on Wednesday, blaming media intrusion into their private life.
McCartney, 63, and former model Mills, 38, who married in a lavish wedding ceremony in Ireland in June 2002, said the constant attention had made "it increasingly difficult to maintain a normal relationship".
"Having tried exceptionally hard to make our relationship work given the daily pressures surrounding us, it is with sadness that we have decided to go our separate ways," the statement said.
"Our parting is amicable and both of us still care about each other very much."
The couple, who have a two-year-old baby girl called Beatrice, met in 1999 at a charity event, a year after the death of McCartney's first wife, photographer Linda Eastman, from breast cancer.
"We hope, for the sake of our baby daughter, that we will be given some space and time to get through this difficult period," the statement added.
The announcement follows weeks of speculation in British newspapers about the state of the couple's relationship.
The Daily Mirror reported on Wednesday that the split had come about because the singer could no longer cope with the couple's bitter rows.
"He and Heather were getting on so badly it became impossible for them to sleep under the same roof," the paper quoted an unnamed friend of the musician as saying.
McCartney's first marriage, which lasted 29 years, was said to be one of the happiest in showbusiness and they rarely spent a night apart. He was heartbroken by her death.
His friendship with Mills, who was born the year before Paul and Linda's wedding, blossomed after he said she had helped him to recover from the pain of losing his first wife.
"I'm lucky to have found a good woman who is strong like Linda," McCartney said.
Media reports before the wedding said McCartney's three children from his first marriage were unsure about Mills and McCartney has admitted this had been a problem.
PRESS CRITICISM
Mills, a model turned charity campaigner, who lost a leg in a motorcycle accident in 1993, said the negative press criticism she had received since the start of their relationship had been difficult to handle.
Her sister Fiona hit back at stories from detractors in an article published on Mills' Web site.
"Many of them were hurtful, spiteful, nasty, deeply personal and, above all, untrue; written by journalists who have never met her, haven't a shred of human kindness and whose ‘sources' were various characters claiming to know all about Heather," she wrote.
"I find it almost impossible to put into words for you all just how angry and hurt I am by the treatment Heather has received from so much of the media since she met and fell in love with Paul in 1999."
The Mirror speculated that Mills could receive 200 million pounds ($376 million) out of McCartney's fortune, estimated at 825 million pounds according to the Sunday Times newspaper's annual "Rich List".
In an interview with Vanity Fair magazine published before their marriage, Mills said she had offered to sign a pre-nuptial agreement but that McCartney had turned down the offer.
LONDON (Reuters) - Former Beatle Paul McCartney and his second wife Heather Mills are to separate after four years of marriage, the couple confirmed in a statement on Wednesday, blaming media intrusion into their private life.
McCartney, 63, and former model Mills, 38, who married in a lavish wedding ceremony in Ireland in June 2002, said the constant attention had made "it increasingly difficult to maintain a normal relationship".
"Having tried exceptionally hard to make our relationship work given the daily pressures surrounding us, it is with sadness that we have decided to go our separate ways," the statement said.
"Our parting is amicable and both of us still care about each other very much."
The couple, who have a two-year-old baby girl called Beatrice, met in 1999 at a charity event, a year after the death of McCartney's first wife, photographer Linda Eastman, from breast cancer.
"We hope, for the sake of our baby daughter, that we will be given some space and time to get through this difficult period," the statement added.
The announcement follows weeks of speculation in British newspapers about the state of the couple's relationship.
The Daily Mirror reported on Wednesday that the split had come about because the singer could no longer cope with the couple's bitter rows.
"He and Heather were getting on so badly it became impossible for them to sleep under the same roof," the paper quoted an unnamed friend of the musician as saying.
McCartney's first marriage, which lasted 29 years, was said to be one of the happiest in showbusiness and they rarely spent a night apart. He was heartbroken by her death.
His friendship with Mills, who was born the year before Paul and Linda's wedding, blossomed after he said she had helped him to recover from the pain of losing his first wife.
"I'm lucky to have found a good woman who is strong like Linda," McCartney said.
Media reports before the wedding said McCartney's three children from his first marriage were unsure about Mills and McCartney has admitted this had been a problem.
PRESS CRITICISM
Mills, a model turned charity campaigner, who lost a leg in a motorcycle accident in 1993, said the negative press criticism she had received since the start of their relationship had been difficult to handle.
Her sister Fiona hit back at stories from detractors in an article published on Mills' Web site.
"Many of them were hurtful, spiteful, nasty, deeply personal and, above all, untrue; written by journalists who have never met her, haven't a shred of human kindness and whose ‘sources' were various characters claiming to know all about Heather," she wrote.
"I find it almost impossible to put into words for you all just how angry and hurt I am by the treatment Heather has received from so much of the media since she met and fell in love with Paul in 1999."
The Mirror speculated that Mills could receive 200 million pounds ($376 million) out of McCartney's fortune, estimated at 825 million pounds according to the Sunday Times newspaper's annual "Rich List".
In an interview with Vanity Fair magazine published before their marriage, Mills said she had offered to sign a pre-nuptial agreement but that McCartney had turned down the offer.