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October 31, 2006 -- ABC News

Yesterday, Before All My Money Was So Far Away ...
Paul and Heather McCartney Are Waging a PR Battle While Engulfed in Fiery Divorce War -- Who Will Win?

Paul McCartney wrote "Yesterday" on the back of an envelope in 1965. Remember the lyrics?

"Yesterday/ All my troubles seemed so far away/ Now it looks as though they're here to stay "

How tragically prophetic "Yesterday love was such an easy game to play/ Now I need a place to hide away/ Oh, I believe in yesterday."

Today McCartney needs a place to hide from all the newspaper headlines about his estranged wife Heather's divorce petition. In some recently-released documents, which may or may not reflect the contents of the real court papers, Heather Mills accuses Paul McCartney of drug-taking and violent behavior.

Among other things, it's alleged that earlier this year he cut Mills' arm with a broken wine glass. The papers also charge that while in Los Angeles back in 2002, grabbed her by the neck before pushing her over a coffee table. And in Rome, apparently, he pushed her into a bathtub during an argument.

The response from McCartney's lawyers is short and to the point: "Our client will be defending these allegations vigorously and appropriately." By "appropriately" they presumably mean in court rather than in the pages of Britain's smutty tabloids.

At stake in the court fight: Paul's estimated $1.5 billion fortune -- and, remember, there was no pre-nuptial agreement.

"I've gone on record as saying that was the biggest mistake of his life possibly," divorce lawyer Alan Kaufman told me. "It's said in the newspapers that he thought about it, it was something he was aware of and he decided love was more important." Kaufman heads the family law team at the prestigious London firm Finers Stephens Innocent.

Just four years ago when they married it was love's young dream. Okay, he was nearly 60 and she was 34. Now it's descended into full-scale tabloid nuclear war.

"[Heather] has got into the ring with a forceful opponent," suggested another top London divorce lawyer, Vanessa Lloyd-Platt. "And she will never win the public relations battle with Sir Paul. Never."

Why are they saying she is doomed to lose? Well, Paul gave the world "Let it Be." Her detractors, meanwhile, claim Heather's career highlight was a racy photo spread in a German magazine.

It appears most Brits would rather forget her extensive work for disability charities and the campaign to ban land mines. In the tabloids, a black and white case of good v. evil is an easier sell. As public relations guru Max Clifford explained to me, the British public "would rather read nasty things about Heather Mills McCartney than nice things." And he added, "If it's a choice between believing Paul McCartney or believing Heather Mills, there's no choice in terms of the British public."

Another thing working against Heather in the tabloid war: She's a woman.

"Men get away with almost murder," says Clifford. "The reason: It's the women. The women readers are women that always attack women."

When Princess Diana divorced Prince Charles back in the 1990's she was, of course, beyond reproach. Charles was criticized halfheartedly, but the real bile was reserved for his paramour (and now wife), Camilla Parker-Bowles. Cartoons of her appeared that in the papers gave her the face of a horse.

And when soccer superstar David Beckham allegedly had an affair, it was his wife, Victoria, who was pilloried for leaving him home alone and open to temptation.

"Women are incredibly critical of other women," says Clifford. "Given the opportunity of blaming women -- even when there's two people involved -- nine times out of 10, in my experience, they go for the woman."

And it's happening to Heather. In our unscientific survey of shoppers on London's Oxford Street not one person said they believe Heather's allegations of abuse and most people blamed her for break up of the marriage. But why do women seem to like criticizing women?

"Women take a very extreme view against other women who appear to be greedy," says Vanessa Lloyd-Platt. "It's sort of the antithesis of feminism. You know, we've fought for all our rights and there's someone coming along back to the old system of trying to grab money off a man."

So how much cash will Heather get? Well, apparently more than she would have got a few years ago. "In England, I don't know about elsewhere, there's undoubtedly been a move in the last ten years to give wives rightly or wrongly, far more of a share of the family assets in these big money cases," says Kaufman.

Recent judgments suggest Heather will claim a chunk of the money Paul has earned since they wed: his royalties, tour profits and album sales. In 2004 alone he made about $70 million.

"Although the money he's made since the marriage is potentially up for grabs," says Lloyd-Platt. "McCartney will say, 'I laid the groundwork for that before the marriage.'"

For example, Paul wrote "Love Me Do" before Heather was born.

And will the tabloid war have any impact? Apparently not.

"Any allegations will have absolutely no bearing on the cash or money she can get," says Platt. "It doesn't make any difference to the finances: who did what to whom."

That's why most people don't indulge in public mud slinging. A hundred years ago when you had to prove a spouse's misbehavior to win a divorce, the papers were full of the dirty dalliances of the rich and famous. One famous case involved an American musical hall star who accused her aristocratic husband of bedding a beautiful divorcee. "I have been made a tool and a fool," she told the court.

But the divorce laws changed way back in 1926. Divorce papers are now supposed to be private and bad behavior is no longer an issue.

No one knows why the divorce went from amicable to acrimonious in a heartbeat. The nature of the falling out is one of the few details that hasn't made it into the papers. But, as Kaufman suggests, one thing is for certain: "In the McCartney case, unfortunately, you've got two parties who have clearly fallen out of love in a very, very, big way."

Since then, it has been anything but.

The British tabloids began salivating when Mills McCartney hired Anthony Julius, the high-powered divorce lawyer who secured Princess Diana's $33 million settlement. McCartney girded for the coming battle by signing up Fiona Shackleton, the lawyer who represented Prince Charles.

The stakes are high. Estimates put McCartney's fortune somewhere between $950 million and $1.7 billion, and there have been reports in the British media that Mills McCartney has already rejected a settlement offer of close to $60 million.

But money is not the issue, according to Simon Warner, a pop music historian at the University of Leeds.

"If McCartney is forced to give up a tenth of his fortune, it will make little dent in a lifestyle that has been, by rock standards at least, a very comfortable but relatively modest existence," said Warner.

The real issue, he said, is McCartney's reputation, and the damage done to that might not be so easy to repair.

"McCartney has cultivated an appealing, nice guy image, and Mills seems determined to both destroy that public impression and take a sizeable chunk of his cash to boot," he said.

It's not clear which side fired the first shot in this increasingly nasty war. McCartney apparently changed the locks on the couple's London house in August, but it seems Mills McCartney made sure the paparazzi were on hand to photograph her guard's attempts to climb the fence.

After that, it became a kind of low-intensity guerrilla conflict fought out on the pages of the tabloids - Mills McCartney's allegedly sordid sexual past balanced against rumors of McCartney's nasty temper and egotism.

In September, there were reports that the couple had decided to call a halt to the media attacks. But last week, Planet Tabloid was rocked by the leak of an alleged legal document that painted McCartney as a drunk who occasionally abused his wife and once stabbed her in the arm with the stem of a broken wine glass.

The eight-page document, supposedly a draft of a brief being prepared by Mills McCartney's legal team, also alleged numerous other petty cruelties.

McCartney, through his lawyers, said the allegations would be contested "vigorously and appropriately."

But much damage already has been done.

The very public airing of the marital breakdown "has shattered the picture of domestic bliss and left McCartney feeling very hurt, very exposed to the kind of attacks he hasn't had to endure since the darker days of his crumbling relationship with (John) Lennon in the 1970s," said Warner, the music historian.

Despite their ravenous delight at the salacious revelations, the tabloids, with an unerring ear for the public mood, have lined up squarely behind "Macca," their nickname for McCartney. In this morality play, Sir Paul is cast as the white knight, a national treasure and all-around good guy (though perhaps a bit of a twit for not having insisted on a prenuptial agreement).

In the tabloids' storyline, "Scheming Heather," as they like to refer to her, could never replace McCartney's first wife, Linda, who died of breast cancer in 1998 after 29 years of marriage. Despite several years of high-profile charity work, Mills McCartney was always going to be stereotyped as the conniving gold digger, the dragon lady who makes Yoko Ono look like the girl next door.

Beatles' fans are not enjoying the spectacle.

"The thing that bothers me is that everything is so public," said Richard Porter, events manager for the British Beatles Fan Club and the author of several books on the Fab Four.

Porter, who has met McCartney on several occasions, questions Mills McCartney's allegations and doubts that McCartney's fans will desert him.

The source of last week's spectacular leak remains a mystery, although reporters have traced it to a fax machine in a corner newspaper store equidistant from the offices of both camps' lawyers.

According to the tabloid experts, the leak has probably hurt Mills McCartney more than McCartney, and may have cost her millions. Whatever leverage she had for a quick and expensive settlement in exchange for her silence has been lost, lawyers said.

Mills McCartney's lawyer was said to be "frothing with rage" over the leak, and "Heather is in floods of tears," according to a widely quoted friend. Last week her legal team announced it would be suing three tabloids, The Sun, the Daily Mail and the Evening Standard.

The Sun, for one, has refused to be cowed. The next day it hit back with a series of lurid photos of Mills McCartney taken in 1988 for a German publication. Under the headline "Lady Macca's Porno Past," The Sun said blushingly that many of the photos in its possession were "too explicit to print in a family newspaper."

The photos it did publish carried a curious warning: "Our lawyers are watching."

Mills McCartney will almost certainly walk away from the mess with a significant chunk of her husband's fortune, but as long as London's tabloids breathe, she is likely to be forever relegated to the cheesy netherworld of B-list celebrity and reality television.

Meanwhile, McCartney's camp has been releasing quotes from a forthcoming DVD on his 2005 world tour in which the likes of former President Bill Clinton and Microsoft founder Bill Gates lavish praise upon the ex-Beatle.

Most Beatles fans expect McCartney to weather this passing storm. His gold-plated reputation will sustain a few dings, but he remains, forever, one of the Beatles.

"Beatles fans are a very forgiving lot," said David Gianino, 45, a management analyst for Boeing and a serious fan on the side.

Gianino, from St. Louis, was in London this week making the pilgrimage to the Beatles' Abbey Road recording studio.

"The important thing is the music will survive," he said, snapping a photo of the place where so much of it was made.

Paul news from the past week recapped

Paul McCartney keeps Linda's interview tapes sealed, sees Heather Mills at daughter's birthday

Paul McCartney has taken extra precautions to ensure that a series of interviews given by his late wife, Linda McCartney, stay sealed. London's Daily Mail revealed that McCartney had Peter Cox, the co-author of Linda's 1989 book Linda McCartney's Home Cooking, sign an additional gag order to his 1988 agreement stating that he will not make Linda's personal thoughts public.

Cox says that although he cannot discuss the contents of the tapes, he is free to discuss events not found on the tapes, saying that, "Occasionally I'd find Linda in tears, obviously distressed. And there were about five or six occasions when I would get the train down to work with her only to be met by a driver who'd been sent to say that she couldn't see me. That was when I got really worried."

He added that he came to believe that Paul and Linda's marriage was far from perfect: "Every marriage has its ups and downs, of course. In her low moments, the idea of leaving him did cross her mind, but she immediately rejected it. Her family was the most important thing in her life and there was no way she'd give them up. At the low points, she did feel trapped."

Macca has taken the extra measure after his estranged second wife Heather Mills allegedly told insiders that McCartney's staff told her that Linda suffered the same physical abuse as Mills had claimed in her divorce petition against McCartney, which was made public earlier this month.

Paul and Linda McCartney were married for 29 years. Linda died of cancer in 1998. The couple had four children, all now adults.

Another of Linda McCartney's confidants, posthumous biographer Danny Fields, told the New York Daily Post that, "No one knows what happened behind closed doors, but one had the feeling that he drank all day long and she kept her eye on his glass of Scotch and Coke, which he would constantly refill."

McCartney's former bandmember Hamish Stuart, who recorded and toured with the McCartneys from 1987 to 1993, told us that the couple always went to great lengths to guard the privacy of their family: "I never saw (Linda) after she got ill. I wrote to her and Paul a couple of times, but it was a shock. Of course I knew she'd been having treatment and I was, y'know, hoping for the best. But that's the kind of thing that Paul would do, to keep everything very close and private. And I totally respect that, 'cause ultimately it's the family."

In other Macca news:

Despite the original plan for McCartney and Mills to throw separate birthday parties for their three-year-old daughter Beatrice on Saturday (October 28th),they decided to celebrate the toddler's birthday together. McCartney and Mills spent about 90 minutes playing with their daughter at the party held at a local park near McCartney's Pearsmarsh estate in the U.K. The party included an assortment of friends and children, yet apparently none of McCartney's other children or grandchildren were on hand.

According to The Daily Mail, the only overt unpleasantness occurred after a photographer appeared and Mills screamed out, "I'm gonna get an assassin to kill you. You're the scum of the earth," which allegedly shocked both parents and children.

Macca's long time right hand man and former Wings road manager John Hammel also shouted at the photographer, saying, "Don't take a picture of Paul. Get a picture of that f****** whore." McCartney, with Hammel and Beatrice in tow, left soon afterwards.

Meanwhile:

Britain's The Sun reported that London's bookies are already drawing up odds for the McCartneys' divorce settlement. Ladbrokes betting house is offering 2-to-1 odds that Mills walks away with between $96 and $189 million, 3-to-1 odds that Mills scores less than $94 million, and 16-to-1 odds that Mills ends up with $756 million of McCartney's reported $1.5 billion fortune.

McCartney and Mills were married on June 11th, 2002. At McCartney's insistence no prenuptial agreement was drawn up, claiming at the time that it was "unromantic."

Sir Paul McCartney has banned estranged wife Heather Mills from his show on Friday.

The former Beatle will be premiering his classical work Ecce Cor Meum at London's Royal Albert Hall and the security team has been told to keep the former model away.

Paul is worried Heather will try and upstage him at the gala he has dedicated to his late first wife Linda.

A source told Britain's Daily Express newspaper: "He suspects she could try to hijack the night by turning up and acting as if she's supporting him and this couldn't be further from the truth.

"Paul has told his security team in no uncertain terms, 'Keep that woman out.'"

The 64-year-old music legend is hoping the public will concentrate on his music rather than his private life for the first time since his bitter split from Heather, 38, in May. The source added: "He wants everything to go smoothly. His work has been a great comfort through this tough divorce battle but he fears Heather is willing to rubbish and ridicule him at every opportunity."

Paul's ban comes days after the estranged couple had a frosty exchange at their daughter Beatrice's third birthday. It was the first time they had met since leaked court documents from Heather's lawyers accused Paul of being violent towards her during their four-year marriage.

The musician has also reportedly banned Heather so his daughter Stella doesn't come face to face with her.

Fashion designer Stella, currently pregnant with her second child, allegedly threatened to kill her stepmother after learning Heather accused Paul of being physically abusive towards Stella's late mother Linda.

During a heated row, Stella, 34, is believed to have yelled at her father, "I can't believe what she's doing to you. I'm going to kill that b***h."

Fiona Shackleton and her firm, Payne Hicks Beach, have issued a claim over an article by columnist AN Wilson in the London Evening Standard, published on October 20, that carried the headline: "So, Macca - where's Mr Nice Guy now?"

The piece referred to Ms Shackleton's role as the Prince of Wales's lawyer in his divorce from Diana, Princess of Wales which was finalised in 1996.

The late Princess's lawyer, Anthony Julius, is representing Sir Paul's estranged wife Heather Mills McCartney.

In the article Mr Wilson wrote: "I personally always support Anthony Julius against Payne Hicks Beach clients, for example since Julius championed the People's Princess against her horrible little husband."

The piece added: "Just as Payne Hicks Beach tried to make out that Lady Di was a manipulative or dishonest person, we all knew by the end of that divorce where the truth lay."

At the time of the royal couple's divorce it is understood that Ms Shackleton was also working with another company and not Payne Hicks Beach.

A spokeswoman for Associated Newspapers declined to comment.

Ms Shackleton did not comment at the time of publication.

Jo Jo Laine - one of the original 'rock chicks' - has died after hitting her head falling down a flight of stairs.

The 53-year-old, who married Wings guitarist Denny Laine after meeting him backstage at a gig, had been in a coma since the accident last week.

Miss Laine, who was suffering from liver cancer, was one of the most famous figures on the seventies rock scene.

The flamboyant former model counted Jimi Hendrix, Rod Stewart and Jim Morrison among her many lovers and travelled the world with Paul and Linda McCartney as Denny's wife.

Before her death the mother of three spoke of her sadness at the accusations levelled against Sir Paul by his estranged wife Heather Mills.

'This is not the Paul I know', she said.

'He would never raise his hand to a woman and always refused cocaine when it was offered to him on tour.

'These allegations are all rubbish.'

Miss Laine's daughter Heidi, 31, said: 'In many ways it is a release for her. My brothers and I are very upset they we are never going to see our mother again.

'She was so full of life that it seems impossible she is gone'.

Miss Laine, who was born Joanne LaPatrie in Boston, Massachusetts, gave herself the nickname Jo Jo in fanletters she wrote to Sir Paul when he was in The Beatles, little dreaming that a few years later she would sharing a tour bus with him.

At 17 she moved to LA where she began working as a model and was soon gracing the covers of Vogue.

From there she was propelled into the hedonistic world of rock, mixing with stars including Rod Stewart. Ringo Starr and George Harrison.

She lost her virginity to Jimi Hendrix after meeting him backstage at Woodstock in 1969.

In an interview with the Daily Mail two years ago she described how the next few years passed in a blur of drink and drugs.

She met Laine at the age of 20 when she was introduced to Wings after going to see them in concert.

'It was the ultimate groupie's dream. I was on the tour bus, going everywhere with them. Linda wasn't happy at first.

'But she relaxed a little eventually, although we never became close'.

She and her husband went on to have two children, Laine and Heidi, before marrying in 1978. However she filed for divorce after discovering he had been having a fling with her best friend.

Miss Laine had her third son Boston in 1983 after falling for builder Peter O'Donohue.

In her later years she became one of the infamous 'wifelets' of Alexander Thynn, the Marquess of Bath, ensconced in a cottage on his 10,000 acre Longeat estate where she shared him with a number of his other girlfriends.

She moved back to her London home in 1996 but by then her years of drinking had taken a toll on her liver.

Miss Laine was diagnosed with liver cancer and her condition had been deteriorating before the fall last week at Yew Corner, the house she had once lived in with Laine and to which she often returned by invite of the new owners.

She never recovered consciousness after the fall and died at St George's Hospital in Tooting on Sunday (Oct 29).

UK TV presenter Jonathan Ross launched a scathing public attack on Heather Mills McCartney today.

The star mocked the sensational claims Heather has made against her estranged husband Paul McCartney in their bitter divorce battle.

Ross was hosting the Q Awards in London and opened by saying: "Heather Mills McCartney ­ what a f****** liar.

"I wouldn't be surprised if we found out she's actually got two legs."

His remarks were cheered by a celebrity-packed audience of musicians which included Oasis front man Noel Gallagher, U2, The Who and Boy George.

Carla Lane says claims that the first McCartney marriage was troubled are not true.

Writer and vegetarian campaigner Carla Lane has spoken out about Sir Paul McCartney's first marriage - saying there were no problems.

She made the comments after it was suggested that Linda McCartney discussed the relationship in tapes with her friend Peter Cox.

Lane, 69, who was one of Linda's best friends, said: "It's just a load of rubbish."

"All I say is, if Paul did anything that was not nice, Linda would have told me, and she never did."

She told Radio 4's Woman's Hour: "Linda told me all things. I mean, if he had a little mood she would say 'oh, he's in a mood', you know."

"But she never did say anything that gave me the impression that she didn't care about him."

The former Beatle's marriage to Linda, who died in 1998 from cancer, was believed to be one of the strongest in showbusiness.

This weekend Sir Paul and estranged wife Heather Mills put aside their differences to attend their daughter Beatrice's third birthday party.

Sir Paul, 64, recently spoke of his increasingly bitter divorce, saying it was a "very difficult" time for him."

Speaking before the storm caused by the anonymous leaking of legal papers containing allegations that he mistreated Heather, he said he was hoping for a "happy resolution."

Linda talked to journalist Garth Pearce while living with Paul in a two-bed cottage - along with their four children. It was two more years before the family moved into a much larger home they had designed on their Peasmarsh estate in Sussex.

The taped chat - which came shortly after Paul had been held in Japan for possessing marijuana - also gives the lie to claims made yesterday by an ex-associate that she was deeply depressed by the marriage.

Her moving words today fly in the face of any suggestion the union was anything but blissful. This is the first time the interview has been published.

LINDA: Paul's biggest fault is that he is so sensitive to criticism. It never ceases to amaze me. I could not believe when I met him that he even had time to look at the newspapers. When Paul dies, the critics will praise him to the heights. Until then, they will carry on criticising.

Paul also gets embarrassed when singing on his own, with new songs, for the first time. He shouldn't, but he does.

He is not in the least arrogant. The last album was written in a room in Sussex. He was like a mad professor, spending all day writing and then coming out with brilliant tunes. He is a terrible planner, though. So am I.

We think we want to do something and when it comes to it, we don't. We don't like to commit.

We might plan a trip to London. Then it is a sunny day and we want to stay at home.

We spent last night listening to Liverpool football team on the radio, wanting them to win so badly. Paul supports Liverpool. He was Everton for a while because of his family - but it's all Liverpool now.

We spend so much time together, because that's how we like it. I never used to go on girl's nights out, even at school. And Paul has never liked going out for a night with the boys, either.s

I wasn't looking for another marriage. I had been married before (to John Melvin See Jr, for three years to June, 1965). He is a nice man - a geologist, an Ernest Hemingway type. But Paul and I married because of convention.

We both came from families in which parents got married, had children and the whole thing. So we were not the kind of people to live together permanently.

But I wanted marriage for myself. I was not calculating about it. I wish I was more calculating.

We met in a club called the Bag O'Nails. I was over here from America, taking pictures for somebody's book and we both went to the club to see Georgie Fame. Paul was on the next table. It was instant attraction, but not love at first sight.

We swapped phone numbers and met up again when I was back in New York. I admit I chased him a bit. We met up at Brian Epstein's house, because I was taking pictures there, and we met on various travels. It was around the Sergeant Pepper time. The gap from our first meeting to living together was less than a year. He proposed, though I am too embarrassed to say how.

We are really happy. But I am like anyone - no one knows how long marriage is going to last.

We live in a two-bed cottage in Sussex. It's insanity. I know. All the kids (Heather, 17, from her first marriage, plus Mary, 10, Stella, 8, James, 2, from her marriage to Paul) sleep in one room and we in another.

We moved there a year ago, just as a weekend place. Then we decided to move out of London completely. We will eventually have to work it out a bit more, because you can't have a little boy living with his sisters like that, can you? But we like the idea of closeness. In our position, we could have a big house with maids and chauffeurs - but what's the point of having kids if you have all that?

We are really on top of one another at the moment and I think it is amazing how we stay so close. Maybe that's the test. Why not totally put yourself together, rather than always wonder whether you actually like each other?

We have lasted this long close together, so we must have something going for each other. I won't be having any more kids, though. Four is enough. Cooking for six people every day is like having a cafe.

Our kids haven't any airs about them. I don't like posh kids who don't like dirty dolls or expect a chauffeur every time they go out.

They go to a little country school. Three of my four children are Virgos and they are supposed to be neat. But they aren't! My three Virgos are as sloppy as they could be.

James is a little neater, but he's still a mess. They are all different. Stella is the most outgoing. Out of the six of us, I am the quietest. Heather is at art college nearby, doing photography.

Hopefully, she does not know what she wants to do. I think there is so much emphasis in "doing" in life that you forget to look at life itself and enjoy it.

I would like them all to enjoy life and try different things until there is something they really like.

They all have some talent. Mary plays the recorder beautifully. I am not pushing them on, though. They are pretty good at the moment just being kids.

My mother was killed in a plane crash, so I hate travelling in planes. Death is so unexpected. I would actually rather stay at home and not go anywhere. I would travel only by horse, if I had the choice.

I had daydreams and fantasies when I was growing up. I always wanted to live in a log cabin at the foot of a mountain. I would ride my horse to town and pick up provisions. Then return to the cabin, with a big open fire, a record player and peace. When I married Paul, we lived in St John's Wood in London. We had nice next-door neighbours, but you don't know anyone else. Everyone lives in isolation.

That's why we moved to the country. Fortunately, Paul had been through all that scene (of materialism) before I met him, so we did not have to go through it together.

When I first toured with Wings things that were said about me were true - I did sing out of tune.

But what is out of tune? What is bad? Killing people is bad.

Mentally or physically harming them is bad.

Paul persuaded me to join the band. I would never have had the courage otherwise. It was fun at the beginning. We were playing just for fun, with Paul's group. But it is so bloody serious now. He wanted me there with him, every day and night. He did not want me because of my talent, that's for sure.

When Paul was arrested in Japan for having hash in his luggage, I thought he'd be out that night. But it became really serious stuff when he was kept in a cell. I became more fearful as the days went by. I kept on hearing things like, 'He will get seven or eight years.'

They would not give him a pencil to write, in case he poked his eyes out, or a guitar, because they feared he might hang himself with the strings. I thought he really would go to prison. It got to the stage when I thought we would buy a place outside Tokyo and live there for seven years. I could then visit him every day. It was the first nights we had ever spent apart in 11 years of marriage. It was ten nights in the end. I think it was a test. It was put there for a reason.

One parent said of Saturday's party at a play park in Hastings, Sussex: "Bea was colouring-in while Paul and Heather sat either side of her. Now and then one would ask Bea something.

"It was very awkward."

It is thought that Heather may use her footage of Paul as evidence for their divorce battle or sell it for thousands to a film maker.

Heather is said to be holding secret talks with telly chiefs to arrange an explosive interview.

Now fashion designer Stella wants Macca, 64, to get his own back by doing his own tell-all TV chat revealing what Heather is really like.

Sources claim Stella, 35, is "absolutely livid with rage" over reports that Heather, 38, plans to pour her heart out on TV ­ just as Princess Diana, below, did in 1995.

A source revealed: "Stella is sick and tired of Heather and can't bear the thought of her playing the tearful victim on TV.

"She's really angry about the effect all this is having on Paul. She's worried for him as he tries to drown his sorrows in booze.

"Stella is determined not to let Heather have it her own way and believes Paul should give his side of the story as well. She has told him he's got to get nasty, or at least threaten to.

"She is still reeling over Heather's outrageous claims that her dad had been violent towards her mum, Linda."

It was claimed that Stella ­ heavily pregnant with her second child ­ flew into a rage over reports that Heather had claimed Macca hit his late wife Linda.

Our source added: "Paul had to restrain her as she screamed at him, 'I'm going to kill that bitch!'"

Stella has long nursed a bitter hatred of Lady Mucca ­ so called because of her seedy past as a sex manual model.

She vowed never to talk to the woman she calls "a pile of vomit" after she wed Macca in 2002.

MORE

October 30, 2006 -- Daily Mail

Paul and Heather 'consider Diana-style TV interview'

Former model Heather, 38, is reported to be in talks with TV bosses over the interview but it is unclear whether Sir Paul will retaliate.

It is understood 64-year-old Sir Paul's fashion designer daughter, Stella, has urged her father to put his side of the story across to TV audiences should Heather do so.

Princess Diana famously gave an interview to ITV's Martin Bashir in 1995, after her separation from Prince Charles was announced. In it, she confessed to an affair with Major James Hewitt.

The year before, Prince Charles had given his own frank interview to David Dimbleby, where he too admitted extra marital activities, with the married Camilla Parker Bowles.

According to today's Daily Star newspaper, Stella McCartney is 'absolutely livid' over reports that her stepmother wants to lay bare their marriage on TV.

A 'friend' told the newspaper: "Stella has told Paul he's got to get nasty."

Since explosive court papers detailing alleged abuse within the marriage were leaked a fortnight ago, the gloves have come off.

Stella allegedly flew into a rage after it was reported that Heather claimed Sir Paul had hit his late wife, Linda.

She is reported to have said of Heather: 'I'll kill that bitch!'"

More claims emerged over the weekend that Linda had in fact been unhappy at times during their 24-year marriage and had considered leaving Sir Paul.

Peter Cox, who wrote a vegetarian cook book with Linda in the late eighties, revealed he has hours of taped conversations with Linda, although it is believed he is unwilling to make their contents public.

MORE

October 30, 2006 -- Contact Music

MILLS 'PLANS TV TELL-ALL'

Heather Mills is reportedly in negotiations to give an hour-long TV interview about her split from Sir Paul McCartney. The couple split in May after less than four years of marriage and daughter Beatrice together.

Former model Mills has received a string of bad press since the couple's split and recently announced plans to sue several British newspapers over "false, damaging and immensely upsetting" stories over her impending divorce. In divorce papers recently obtained by the British press,

British newspaper the Daily Express reports Mills believes a TV interview will show her side of her story to the British public.

Public Relations guru Max Clifford says, "At this stage she has nothing to lose. She's losing the PR war and is right at the bottom with him at the top.

"It seems that no one really believes her and if she can give a good performance - and I accentuate the word performance - then she has nothing to lose. So far it has not gone in her favour."

An enraged woman, believed to be Heather's sister, Fiona Mills, allegedly grabbed his camera from him as he took close-up shots of her hugging Heather goodbye.

The 26-year-old agency photographer alleges his arm was slapped before the £3,000 ($9,400) Canon camera was snatched in King's Gardens, Hove.

After police were called the camera was returned to him, minus the memory card containing the photos, he claimed. He also alleged the camera flash was damaged.

The alleged incident occurred hours after both Heather and her estranged husband Sir Paul McCartney attended their daughter Beatrice's third birthday party at an activity centre in Hastings.

The photographer, who does not wish to be identified, said: "I was driving home from a friend's house when I spotted Heather's Mercedes parked on double yellow lines outside her sister's flat. I thought I might as well sit there and get a picture.

"Heather finally emerged with her sister and they had a hug - it was a real moment. As I approached them I said 'sorry to disturb you I'm just getting a picture'.

"Heather's going 'it's my daughter's birthday today and you lot have brought me and her to tears'. The sister's saying 'five months this has been going on...' I took a few pictures of her as she was screaming at me and it tipped her over the edge and she started belting and slapping my arm, she must have done it a good 20-30 times. She just grabbed the camera and took off. Heather said 'give it back, give it back' and then she drove off. They were both in tears."

Sussex Police confirmed a complaint had been made by the photographer and that officers had retrieved the camera from an address in King's Gardens.

Phil Hall, spokesman for Ms Mills McCartney, said: "They're being constantly harassed by photographers and it's obviously wound them up."

The warring couple tried to put their troubles behind them as they attended daughter Bea's third birthday party.

But Heather was seen to scowl as Macca, 64, swung a laughing Bea in the air during the afternoon of partying.

Bea later left the centre with her dad - while Heather left clutching a slice of birthday cake.

A source at the Clambers play centre, in Hastings, East Sussex, said: "They came here this afternoon.

"I don't want to comment on what they were like as a family and whether they were together or not but I do know their daughter and her friends had a lovely time here today."

Parties at the play centre feature ball pools, children's entertainers and birthday tea.

October 19

My phone rang just after midday. 'Piers, it's Heather. WHAT THE F**K ARE YOU DOING TO ME?'

Ah, yes, Lady McCartney. I'd written a fairly scathing article about her in today's Daily Mail - following publication of those appalling divorce papers - and apologised to Paul for ever introducing him to her in the first place. She started shouting at me in that high-pitched, slightly demonic way that I would imagine is very familiar to her husband.

'Why have you written all this SH*T? WHY?'

'Because you're behaving appallingly, that's why,' I replied, as she finally drew breath. 'Those divorce papers were absolutely shocking. You should never have said all that stuff about Paul.'

'I've done NOTHING wrong,' she shrieked. 'Every single word in those divorce papers is true. I'm not going to lie when I go to court.'

She sounded completely bonkers.

'Heather, whoever is advising you to do all this is making a massive mistake. Just think about...' I was going to say 'your daughter Beatrice' but she cut me dead.

'It's NOT a mistake. It's the truth. I can't believe you've turned on me like this, too. Paul always said I should never trust a tabloid journalist because you're all SCUMBAGS. But I trusted you.'

'Yes, well, I guess we've both seen the light then.'

She carried on shouting, before suddenly stopping in mid rant. 'I know what it is,' she sneered, after a second's pause.

'What?'

'I know why you've done this.'

'Really? Why have I done this?'

Another pause. And a huge theatrical sigh.

'Because you're a Paul fan, that's why.'

'I'm a Paul fan?'

I contemplated this allegation for a second or two, letting my mind saunter back to my teenage 56-album Beatles collection, including that rare Japanese import of 'Abbey Road.'

'Yes, I guess I am a Paul fan,' I replied. 'In fact, I've always been a Paul fan.'

Another pause. 'I knew it.'

And the phone when dead.

Heather Mills may have to face off against two ex-husbands when she takes Paul McCartney to divorce court.

Mills' first husband, Alfie Karmal, 48, yesterday said he would love to join forces with the beloved Beatle and testify to how she used to fly into rages and slap him around, The Sun newspaper of Britain reported.

"Attack is the best form of defense for Heather," Karmal said from his home in Canada.

Karmal could be a key ally for McCartney in the battle for his $1.5 billion fortune.

But the 64-year-old ex-Beatle still has reason to live in fear of Mills' divorce team - it may try to use 20 hours of a taped diary in which his first wife, Linda, who died in 1998 of breast cancer, reportedly spoke about their marital troubles.

Allegations that Linda's marriage was less than perfect have come as no surprise to her one-time best friend and biographer, Danny Fields, who grew up with her on the New York rock scene.

"No one knows what happened behind closed doors, but one had the feeling that he drank all day long and she kept her eye on his glass of Scotch and Coke, which he would constantly refill," Fields said.

Warring Sir Paul McCartney and Heather Mills had a secret reunion yesterday - for their daughter's birthday party.

Despite their ferocious divorce battle, the pair "chatted and looked happy" at a party for little Beatrice.

An onlooker said: "It was astonishing considering what's gone on between them over the last few weeks. They obviously did not want to spoil Bea's day."

It was only the third time they have met since the split in May and happened despite Heather's claims - denied by Paul - he physically abused her during their marriage.

Other mums and dads could not believe their eyes as they arrived at the Clambers Children's Play Centre in Hastings, East Sussex, at lunch-time yesterday.

Heather, 38, and Sir Paul, 64, have not come face-to-face for two months, but they put their differences aside for Bea's third birthday.

A witness told the Sunday Mirror: "Beatrice was happily playing with her mum and dad without a care in the world.

"Paul and Heather were determined to get on to give Beatrice a fantastic birthday. They chatted to one another and looked happy."

The former Beatle and his estranged wife - who split after almost four years of marriage - booked a 90-minute party at the venue.

After the party Paul emerged carrying Bea and left in a chauffeur-driven car.

Heather left 10 minutes later carrying the remains of the birthday cake.

The unexpected encounter came as the Sunday Mirror can exclusively reveal Sir Paul dumped Heather on Mother's Day - after a blistering row over who went shopping for her gifts.

Heather hit the roof after finding out Sir Paul had sent a staff member to the stores to buy presents for her instead of going himself.

After scenes that made Macca throw in the towel, Heather stormed out and went on a mammoth shopping spree "to hit him where it hurts".

Sir Paul - who said he'd spent hours carefully choosing the presents for an aide to pick up - called Heather a "spoilt brat" and decided enough was enough.

A source said: "It was the first time anyone heard Paul say, 'Linda would never have behaved like this'. I think just hearing himself come out with it made him realise just what a mess he was in.

"Linda would have been happy with flowers picked from their garden. She didn't need him to spend loads of money on her to show her he loved her. Unlike Heather."

After the row, Paul refused to attend the launch of Heather's lifestyle book Life Balance - so she cancelled the party and finally accepted the marriage was over. The source said: "Heather believed Paul would make peace and come back with his tail between his legs. But he'd had enough. She'd pushed him over the edge."

The Mother's Day split is the latest revelation in the pair's bitter marriage bust-up which has seen Heather claiming in divorce papers that she was physically abused by Sir Paul.

It can today be revealed as the "explosive incident" which led to Macca calling off the marriage.

And according to sources from inside the Macca camp we can reveal it was the SECOND time the couple had split. The first came last summer, when Heather stayed at her sister's house for two weeks until Macca relented and the couple were reunited.

But the events on Mother's Day on March 26 this year were the final nail in the coffin of their crumbling relationship.

Macca, now 64, hoped Heather - 26 years his junior - would be thrilled with the gifts. But the source said: "When Heather found out she went mad. She called it impersonal and an insult. She just wouldn't stop. Soon, they were shouting. Sir Paul was really hurt by her behaviour and stunned at her actions."

But Heather still did not believe the marriage was finished because Paul had forgiven her after their previous split.

The source said: "Heather, the majority of their friends, family and aides, were convinced Paul would not leave her.

"But he had had enough of being treated like a doormat - and told her the marriage was over. Heather was shell-shocked.

"She had absolutely no idea that it would be the catalyst for the end of their marriage."

The source continued: "Paul finally realised how different she was from his late wife Linda - and not in a good way. She was behaving like a spoilt brat. It was all take and no give."

Sir Paul became concerned at just how much money she was spending.

During their marriage, Heather and Sir Paul acquired a new home in Los Angeles and he bought her a lavish seafront pad in Brighton, close to where her sister Fiona lives. The insider says Heather also "ordered" Macca to buy her a £810,000 ($1.5 million) barn conversion close to the Peasmarsh estate.

The source added: "Heather was demanding more and more money from Paul for things for herself. She told him - didn't ask - that he had to buy the barn for her. He was wondering when enough was going to be enough. How many houses did she need?"

He also started to believe his daughter Stella's long-held view that Heather was a fantasist. Paul had always defended Heather, but he just couldn't do it any longer. As far as he could see, her lies were just getting bigger and more frequent.

A friend said: "Last summer, during their brief split, Heather kept complaining that Paul just wanted to stay in in the evenings - while she had far more important things to do. Paul enjoys having a romantic meal and then relaxing in front of a film. Heather preferred to be very public, going to posh restaurants.

"She also still had a simmering resentment that Paul had performed at the Rupert Murdoch-supported US Superbowl six months earlier.

"Heather felt he should have pulled out after a critical article about her appeared in the Sunday Times, part of Murdoch's empire."

During the secret split, Heather and Fiona booked a holiday. But after two weeks, Paul gave in and the pair were reunited.

"Paul forgave her in a bid to make the marriage work for the sake of Beatrice," the friend said. But Fiona and Heather still went on holiday - leaving Sir Paul gutted.

"He thought because they had patched things up, she would cancel the holiday. After that, she was never allowed to mention it because it made him so angry."

This Friday, the couple's million-pound divorce battle will head to court - and Heather's lawyers will make the unusual request for the case to be heard in public.

Ladbrokes are offering 2-1 Heather Mills gets between £51 million ($96 million) and £100 million ($189 million), 3-1 she takes less than £50 million ($94 million), and 16-1 the ex-porn star grabs more than £400 million ($756 million) of Sir Paul's £800 million ($1.5 billion) fortune.

A spokesman said: "We've never been asked for odds on a divorce settlement.

Punters are going potty for it."

The fashion designer flew into a terrifying rage after hearing that Heather claimed Macca hit her mother Linda.

Pregnant Stella, 34, had to be restrained by the former Beatle as she screamed: "I'm going to kill that bitch! I can't believe what she's doing! I'm going to kill her!'"

It was clear she didn't mean it literally but she was beside herself after reading what Heather had said about Linda.

"I told you she was a bitch," she screamed. "Why did you marry her? She's been a manipulative cow from day one. The cow won't be happy until she destroys all of us - and our memories of our mother'."

Last week we revealed how Heather was the violent one in the collapsed marriage, smashing up rooms, hurling missiles and making threats against her husband.

Now we can reveal the full extent of Stella's bitter hatred of the woman who replaced her beloved mother. Our source revealed how:

# THE two women thrashed out an astonishing HATE PACT after the marriage so they would never have to talk to each other.

# STELLA is so disgusted by the blonde ex-model she compared her to a pile of VOMIT, calling her morning sickness "Heathering".

# ONLY weeks away from giving birth, Stella is under so much strain she has HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE, putting her pregnancy in jeopardy, and Sir Paul, 64, is drinking heavily.

# HIS marriage was in tatters TEN MONTHS ago - and when a desperate Sir Paul suggested marriage counselling, 38-year-old Heather REFUSED.

Stella's explosive rant happened during a meeting with her dad to discuss the divorce. "Paul kept pleading with her to calm down-but she couldn't," said a source close to the family.

"She wanted to go straight to see Heather, but he said, 'You can't go anywhere in that state'. He had to stand in front of the door and stop her. He was pleading with her. It was a heartbreaking scene."

And it was the culmination of a resentment that had been bubbling since the day Macca announced he was going to marry the ex-model.

Our source told how a few weeks after the 2002 wedding, the rock legend got Stella and Heather together on a secret night out in London.

"He was adamant they should be one big happy family - he didn't realise how wrong he could be.

"From what Stella said to friends she told her stepmum she was a money-grabbing bitch and Heather hissed at her to mind her own business.

"The upshot of a very frosty evening was, 'You keep out of my way, I'll keep out of yours'. It broke Paul's heart."

Stella's hatred only deepened as she watched the marriage crumble.

When she had morning sickness she gave it a nickname. "She called it Heathering. That's how bad it is," said our source.

"Heather is just vomit as far as she's concerned. But what she's doing to Stella's dad is really getting to her. Her blood pressure is very high, not something you need in the latter stages of a pregnancy."

Our source told how the marriage was in trouble from the start of this year.

"They were arguing over anything and Heather was taking it out on her staff. Once she reduced their gardener to tears because she didn't like the way he'd cut the flowers.

"Paul would spend more and more time at Stella's and would be constantly on the phone to her when he was at home.

"He would say, 'I just don't know what to do any more. I love her but she's become this horrible woman.'

"Stella would get so upset listening to her dad she once said, 'I don't want to bring my child into this world with her as a grandmother. She's a bitch from hell'."

In May, Macca suggested marriage counselling in a last-ditch attempt to save their marriage, said our source. But she flatly refused. "She told him he was the problem and if he sorted himself out it would all be fine," said our source. "This was the last straw for Paul who started drinking heavily. Stella grew more and more concerned.

"It was at this point Stella noticed Heather would carry a black Prada bag with her and Paul said she'd always leave it in the middle of the table. They now believe it had a tape recorder in it." Stella never saw them fighting - but did once walk in after they had a bust-up over Heather's spending.

A source close to Stella said: "She told me Paul was close to tears.

"Heather had been spending far too much on clothes and they had a huge row with Paul telling her to cut down.

"She would buy bags of outfits and wear dresses only once. It was like she had won the lottery. Paul really loved her and would do anything for her but it was just take, take, take."

The one good thing from the marriage collapse is that it has drawn the McCartneys together again as a family. Macca has seen much more of Linda's daughter Heather, 43, who stayed away from his Peasmarsh home throughout his new marriage.

"It was a huge surprise for loads of staff when Heather turned up at the house to see her stepdad," said our source.

"She'd not visited for four years. The same applies to Mary and James, his other kids.

"Paul would have to go to see them rather than them coming home. In the last few months that's changed. They're united against Heather."

October 29, 2006 -- Daily Mail

McCartneys stop the feuding for the sake of Bea's birthday

Sir Paul McCartney hasn,t had a lot to smile about in recent months. But yesterday he and his estranged wife Heather Mills appeared to have agreed to a temporary truce to celebrate the third birthday of their daughter Beatrice.

The two-hour party, with about 15 guests a mixture of adults and children was held at Clambers Play Centre in Hastings, East Sussex, which is near Sir Paul's home in Peasmarsh.

Billed as a great place for the under-12s to have fun, the play centre features giant balls, slides, climbing frames and a wide range of childrens entertainment.

Adults in the party were dressed casually, with Sir Paul wearing a striped, hooded windcheater and jeans and Heather wearing a simple black dress and stylish white coat.

Also celebrating Bea's birthday was Heather's sister and her most loyal ally Fiona, who wore jeans, a purple cardigan over a yellow top and carried a large bag over her shoulder.

Beatrice was dressed in a pretty pale-pink party dress, her soft blonde hair scooped up into a ponytail. She and her young guests watched children's entertainers before having a birthday tea at the centre.

A spokesman for the play centre said: They came here this afternoon and appeared to have had a lovely time. All the guests took away yellow balloons and one of our party bags.

Heather left the party with a slice of birthday cake. But it was Beatrice who appeared to have the most fun, chortling with enjoyment as her father swung her about in the air.

The Mills and McCartney groups arrived separately, with Sir Paul carrying Beatrice under an overpass bridge as Heather and her group of friends and their children walked over it.

The two groups left separately at the end of the celebration. But during the party they at least made an attempt to put on a united front.

In recent weeks the divorce has become increasingly acrimonious, with allegations flying from Heather about Sir Paul's drunken and violent behaviour during the four years of their marriage.

But one mother who took her son to the play centre as the McCartneys were leaving yesterday said: "Bea looked lovely and seemed to be having a wonderful time."

She added: "If I did not know what had been going on in their marriage in the last few months, I would never have guessed.

"Bea was smiling and laughing just like any other child having a whale of a time on her birthday."

Earlier, Heather had been seen leaving Sir Paul's Peasmarsh estate alone driving a Mercedes. She was holding a video camera and filmed photographers and reporters outside the property as she drove past.

She had spent the previous few days on the estate but left mid-morning to go to Beatrice's birthday celebrations.

The McCartneys' bitter divorce war spilled over into their daughter Beatrice's third birthday party with venomous explosions of hatred.

Heather launched an astonishing rant at a photographer and one of Macca's closest aides branded her a "f****** whore".

The couple had tried to put their differences aside for their little girl as they met at a kids' activity centre for the first time since their acrimonious split.

But while Macca put on a brave face, playing happily with his daughter, grim-faced Heather attacked the snapper.

In front of shocked parents and children she hissed: "I'm gonna get an assassin to kill you. You're the scum of the earth."

Just a couple of minutes later, Macca's right-hand man John Hammel told the cameraman: "Don't take a picture of Paul. Get a picture of that f****** whore".

The amazing scenes took place outside the Clambers Kids' Activity Centre in Hastings, Sussex, where Bea had played for around two hours with her little pals as her parents mingled with other mums and dads at the bash, keeping their distance from each other. The couple arrived separately, Macca with Bea, and left the centre apart.

But for just over a minute they had their first public face-to-face meeting for more than four months as Macca walked under a bridge with Bea on his shoulders while stony-faced Heather crossed it.

They exchanged a few brief nervy words before Macca strolled on to the car park to head home.

As he disappeared, Heather rounded on hapless photographer Gareth Connolly in front of parents and children who had been guests at the party.

The stunned cameraman, returning to his own car, then had his encounter with Hammel standing a few yards from where Macca and Bea were sitting in the singer's 4X4.

McCartney did not hear what his right-hand man said.

Macca took Bea back to his Peasmarsh estate in Sussex to meet relatives and carry on with the rest of the poor tot's not-so-happy birthday.

World exclusive: A close friend of Linda McCartney, who has recordings of her innermost thoughts, has given a remarkable insight into her supposed idyllic marriage.

She reveals Sir Paul McCartney's first wife Linda was so unhappy at one point during their marriage that she talked about leaving him, The Mail on Sunday reveals today.

The sensational claim is made by Peter Cox, the man in possession of the 'Linda Tapes' - the recorded confessions she made about her life and relationship with Sir Paul.

In an exclusive interview, Mr Cox, her close friend and confidant, claimed: "There were moments when Linda would feel deeply unhappy and depressed about her marriage.

"Every marriage has its ups and downs, of course. In her low moments, the idea of leaving him did cross her mind, but she immediately rejected it. Her family was the most important thing in her life and there was no way she'd give them up. At the low points, she did feel trapped."

He added: "When I started to learn all this, I was a bit dazed because I thought this was Britain's happiest marriage."

Mr Cox, a successful literary agent who worked with Linda on a vegetarian cookery book, gives a rare insight into the McCartneys' world and paints a portrait of a couple whose harmonious public facade often belied secret turmoil.

Although he found Paul charming and charismatic, Mr Cox claimed the star had 'a darker side and could be very controlling. Linda often had to dance attendance upon him. He bossed her around'.

It is not thought Linda refers to domestic abuse on any of the 19 tapes she made.

But Mr Cox recalled: "Occasionally I'd find Linda in tears, obviously distressed. And there were about five or six occasions when I would get the train down to work with her only to be met by a driver who'd been sent to say that she couldn't see me. That was when I got really worried."

Mr Cox has given an undertaking to Sir Paul's lawyers that he will not divulge the contents of the tapes. Even so, there has been speculation that they may yet play a part in the former Beatle's increasingly rancorous divorce from second wife Heather Mills.

It is understood that a judge could demand they be played in court. Ms Mills alleges that Sir Paul was violent towards her during their four-year marriage. He has vigorously denied her claims.

Last night Mr Cox, 51, told how he grew close to Linda, who died in 1998. Between 1987 and 1989, he was a frequent visitor to the McCartneys' estate in Peasmarsh, East Sussex, often spending two days a week at their home researching the vegetarian cookery book Linda McCartney's Home Cooking.

"People may find this surprising," he said, 'but Paul used to complain that their life at Peasmarsh was isolated, out of the way. He felt they were out of the swing of things and he wanted very much to be in town, going to parties and restaurants.

"Linda didn't want that. She just wanted to lead a happy, normal life surrounded by her family and the things she loved. This was one of the causes of tension between them."

Mr Cox was introduced to the McCartneys in early 1987 by Chrissie Hynde, the former lead singer of The Pretenders and a close friend of Linda.

At the time Mr Cox, a former chief executive of the Vegetarian Society and advertising agency boss, was riding high on the success of his best-selling book You Don't Need Meat.

"Chrissie took me to Peasmarsh to meet them both," he said. "They rode up on horses to meet us and Paul said, "You're Peter Cox - I want to get your autograph."

"It was a bizarre thing to say but, as a young author, I was chuffed. Paul and I then went for a walk around the garden. It was all very strange. He said to me, 'If I gave you a million pounds, would you eat a hamburger?'

"I said, 'No,' and he accused me of lying. What does this say about him - that he thinks everyone has a price? There was always this question mark with Paul, as if he was constantly thinking, 'What do you want from me? I am Paul McCartney and you want something from me and I'm going to find out what it is'.

"That attitude was always there and I found it most depressing.

"Also on that walk, he kept talking about John Lennon in the present tense. It was John says this and John thinks that. Very weird. And he spoke about that reference to The Beatles being more famous than Jesus. He said, 'Do you realise how much power we could have had if we'd gone to the dark side?'

"I didn't know quite what to say. But after that he seemed at pains to come over as a regular kind of guy. Of course he is not a regular guy. He is a hugely talented man and a multi-millionaire."

Mr Cox admitted: "I didn't warm to Paul. There was an awful coldness about him. His eyes were deader than any I had ever seen. But Linda and I hit if off that day. She had this aloof image but I found her the opposite - warm and caring."

Linda, who cherished her privacy, was initially cautious about collaborating on a recipe book, perhaps fearing it would expose her to too much public scrutiny.

But it also offered her the opportunity to do something for herself, to have her own project. For despite relishing her role as wife and mother, Mr Cox said he detected that she was possibly a little frustrated.

According to Mr Cox, Paul and those around him viewed the book 'patronisingly' as a nice diversion for Linda, a hobby that would not amount to much.

"In the end she said she would do it for the animals," said Mr Cox. "With Linda, vegetarianism was all about animals, not a health thing. In fact, she ate quite unhealthily - too much dairy produce, as I often told her.

"She said she wanted the book to offer vegetarian food for truck drivers. She said Paul liked traditional dishes and that is what they had at home - bangers and mash, that sort of thing.

"It was difficult to work out Linda's recipes because she was such an instinctive cook, throwing stuff in with no regard to weights and measures. It meant that everything took a lot of time."

It was not the only thing that hampered progress. Linda's relationship with Paul had a serious impact on their efforts.

"Linda would try to arrange it so we would work on the book when Paul wasn't there,' said Mr Cox. "If he was, he would always dominate things so much that we couldn't get anything done.

"The work was mainly done at the kitchen table. If Paul was there, he would be the alpha male. He had an opinion about everything. When he was in the room, there was only one thing that counted - Paul's agenda, what he wanted to talk about. So work was suspended until Mr McCartney left the building.

"Linda had to be attentive when Paul was there. I remember we had one of our mobile meetings about the book - in the car as we were driving to see Paul - when a call came in on the car phone. He wanted to see only her and I was dumped unceremoniously near the M25. She was very embarrassed and apologetic. But that was just Paul."

Normally, Mr Cox would travel by train to Rye, three miles from Peasmarsh, where he would be picked up in a Land Rover by one of the McCartneys' staff. On other occasions, he would get a taxi from the station. And sometimes he would be picked up at his London home by limousine.

He said: "Linda had a cleaner, a Cockney, who lived in Stratford, East London. The limo would pick me up first and then pick her up and we would head for Sussex.

"I remember thinking, 'She must be the only cleaner in the world who is taken to work by limo'."

Mr Cox also recalls Linda's varying moods. "Some days she would be terrific, and other days she would be depressed about things and wouldn't want to do anything," he said. "To get her to focus I would remind her that it was for the animals.

"I also had a secret weapon, though I'm not particularly proud of this. Linda had spoken to me about Jane Asher, Paul's former fiancee, and while it wasn't in a jealous way, she was quite negative about her.

"So I got her book, Jane Asher's Party Cakes, and always carried it with me when I went to Peasmarsh. If she was a bit down, I'd slam it on the kitchen table and it acted as a spur, like a red rag to a bull. In fact, Linda would say, 'Right, let's get going'."

There were times, however, when no amount of jokey cajoling would deliver Linda from her profound gloom, and Mr Cox learned to recognise the signs.

"Often she would be outside the house to greet me because she could hear the car coming down the drive," he said. "I could tell within seconds if she was upset. Sometimes, she would put a brave face on but other times she was in tears. On those occasions I could only offer her a sympathetic shoulder and listen to her."

Often, as Linda poured out her woes, they would sit in the kitchen with its panoramic view of the McCartneys' gently sloping acres and Linda's beloved Appaloosa horses. If the weather was fine, they would sit or walk outside.

Mr Cox added: "We were very close. We always had lots of hugs but it was a platonic relationship. I was happily married. I don't know if Paul was jealous but I was conscious that he might have been. There were no hugs when he was around."

Privy to many intimacies in the marriage that even some of the McCartneys' most trusted advisers were unaware of, Mr Cox said he came to the conclusion that Paul kept his wife on a 'tight leash - like a caged animal'.

"It struck me that she didn't have ready access to money," he said. "For instance, I would often lend her a fiver or a tenner for groceries.

"On her birthday, Paul gave her a Cartier watch. It was a huge deal for her. Oddly, she kept telling me how valuable it was, how it had cost £20,000. But you have to ask how she knew how much it cost.

"Paul was also determined, wisely, to make their children aware of certain realities and limited their allowances."

Another persistent source of tension in the marriage, according to Mr Cox, was touring. "There was always a great kerfuffle about going on tour. Paul would want Linda there when really she didn't want to go. Then he said grudgingly that she didn't have to go if she didn't want to. In the end she went, of course. But it was always a great drama."

For all his wealth and celebrity, Mr Cox asserts that Paul was 'frustrated'. Even Linda, he says, referred to him as 'such a frustrated man', though enigmatically she didn't say why.

"I suggested to Linda that he should go into politics," said Mr Cox, "but she said he would do that only if he could be Prime Minister."

Despite reservations about the cook book's prospects of success - one publisher turned it away, saying it didn't stand a chance without meat recipes as well - it proved to be a best-seller when it came out in autumn 1989.

Mr Cox recalled: "Suddenly Paul's company MPL seized upon this money-making venture that had been our little project that no one gave a toss about. Paul asked me to be the managing director of a food company he was starting, what would eventually become Linda McCartney's range of foods."

Mr Cox agreed instead to act as a consultant but soon clashed with Paul 'over the nature of the company'. However, relations between the two were not always frosty. "Paul and Linda lent my family their farmhouse on the Mull of Kintyre for three weeks one Christmas," he said.

Yet some time later he went to see Paul at a recording studio in London about some aspect of the business. "He kept me waiting for hours," said Mr Cox.

"When he eventually came out he said brusquely, 'I haven't got time to see you'.

"I said, 'I have been waiting for hours Paul,' and he replied that he was Paul McCartney and not to forget it.

"I said, 'I know you are, Paul. There's only ever one Paul McCartney, isn't there?'

"He seemed surprised that I had stood up to him and gave me a cocky smile. The next day he rang to apologise, which was rare, apparently."

A few weeks later, Mr Cox told Paul that he no longer wanted to work with him, saying that he wanted to stick to publishing.

"He was OK about it - he wasn't going to beg," said Mr Cox. "I knew I was giving up a lot of money but I'd had enough of his world."

After that the 'shutters came down' and Mr Cox's relationship with Linda began to fade, though they kept in touch intermittently by phone. He was devastated to learn that Linda had cancer and upset, too, when he wasn't invited to her funeral.

"Whatever the strange dynamic of their relationship, Linda was the only one Paul could open up to," said Mr Cox. "She was like a mother to him. I have no
doubt she loved him enormously, despite their problems."

Jo Bradford was spending a relaxed afternoon on the sofa with her boyfriend Ben Amigoni. It was a rented house but they had been happy living there while they saved for their own home.

The couple had been living together for two years and shared dreams of marrying and having children together.

But the quiet afternoon was shattered when Ben's mobile phone rang. The caller, to Jo's astonishment, was Sir Paul McCartney. Sitting next to Ben, Jo was able to hear every word. The former Beatle wanted to know just what Ben's car was doing parked in the drive outside the home of his estranged wife, Heather Mills.

That phone call was four months ago. And over that time Jo, 23, has seen the man she thought she knew - and planned to start a family with - utterly bewitched by the woman at the centre of the most acrimonious divorce in showbusiness history.

The 22-year-old fitness instructor, now Heather Mills's personal trainer, has become used to flying in private jets, travelling first-class in limousines with bodyguards, and increasingly seemed to regard it as his right to share her celebrity lifestyle.

Jo, meanwhile, has been dumped - left to wonder how she could ever have won her boyfriend back from a woman who has everything Jo could only dream of.

Last night, Jo, a bank clerk, spoke for the first time about the malign influence she believes Heather's lifestyle has had on Ben and their relationship - and told how Heather, fresh from her break from Sir Paul, appeared desperate to secure him as her latest, glamorous accessory.

Speaking exclusively to The Mail on Sunday, Jo said: "How could I compete with Heather? We had saved up together to afford a package holiday to Corfu, just a week after he started working for her. Yet, within days, she was flying with him to Slovenia first-class.

"Heather stole my thunder. I suddenly felt our life wasn't good enough for him. He was getting sucked into her celebrity world and I could see that I was losing him. I do feel jealous because she has money and can do what she wants. I've never been to America and he's been twice with her in the past few months."

It is all a far cry from when Jo and Ben first met at a nightclub in Rye, East Sussex, three years ago. The pair clicked instantly. Eighteen months later, they moved in together, renting a two-bedroom cottage in Ashford, Kent.

Ben worked at the Hilsden gym in the town and Jo at a local bank. He had not really talked about the McCartneys, who both used the gym. Jo, however, had her own first encounter with Heather about three years ago.

The ex-model was heavily pregnant with Beatrice and had stopped off at the gym to pick up Sir Paul.

The confident blonde was sitting in the coffee area and swung round to introduce herself, saying: "Hi, I'm Heather." Jo said: "I was taken aback, because she's a celebrity. I didn't know what to say. In the end, I managed to get out "Hiya."

"At that stage she was just a client, so Ben didn't have much to do with her, although clearly he had talked to her about me."

Sir Paul, 64, was on a nearby rowing machine but managed to twist round and give a quick wave to Jo.

The first impact Heather had on their lives, however, was in summer last year when Ben was appointed Heather's personal trainer at the gym.

Jo said: "He came home and said, 'Guess what. I've just been training Heather Mills. With any luck, she'll tell Paul how good I am and I'll become his personal trainer, too.' At the time I wasn't that bothered."

That Christmas, when the McCartneys gave Jo and Ben a Christmas present of CDs, McCartney tour T-shirts and perfume, he was so impressed at receiving gifts from such stellar celebrities he even kept the wrapping paper.

But it was not until March this year that the first sign came that Heather had her eyes on Ben.

Jo said: "It was his birthday and he got an anonymous present delivered to the gym - a £200 ($375) voucher to drive a racing car at Brands Hatch. When he found out it was from her, he was gobsmacked. I was, too.

"I suppose I should have paid more attention. Ben had already told me that Heather said he was the best personal trainer she'd ever had."

Two months later, the McCartneys announced they were separating. Jo said: "Ben was Heather's personal trainer but if he knew things he never talked to me. In fact, I remember him even denying they were getting divorced."

Eight weeks later, Ben came home euphoric. Heather had asked him to become her exclusive personal trainer based at the McCartneys' Peasmarsh estate. Jo was unhappy, though even now she is unable to pinpoint why. Perhaps she had an inkling that with such a demanding employer their lives would never be the same again.

She said: "I started crying and pleading with him not to take it but he said it was too big a career move to miss. His first day of work, last July, Ben came home carrying £8,500 ($16,000) in cash - it was his pay for the first six months. He was thrilled but I was uneasy.

"And I was proved right. He started changing, at first subtly, putting his working relationship with Heather over ours. A few days later, she suggested he train as a masseur so he could give her massages. I remember thinking, "When has he ever massaged me?"

"But Ben just became starstruck. He would come home and boast about driving her £50,000 ($95,000) limo around the estate. I suppose it was a notch up from his £3,000 ($5,600) Ford Fiesta.

"After one trip to America with her, he came back sporting some ridiculous large white sunglasses by designer Paul Frank. I laughed at him and said, 'Why are you wearing those?' But he was thrilled with the fact that she was taking him around in a helicopter, flying him first-class to America and driving round in limos.

"I would say he became obsessed. He even read Heather's autobiography after she gave it to him, saying he should 'learn all about her'. Then he stopped drinking milk and switched to soya milk, like her."

It was just days after Ben began working for Heather that he had the bizarre phone call from Sir Paul.

Jo said: "I was sitting at home in the lounge with Ben and could hear every word. Sir Paul wanted to know what Ben's car was doing in his wife's drive at Peasmarsh. He said, 'Is there anything going on with you and Heather? You understand why I'm ringing you.'

Ben immediately said he was just her personal trainer and there was nothing going on. Then Sir Paul rang off.

"Later, Ben got a call from Heather. He told her what had happened and she was furious. I was sitting next to him. She said, 'You're joking. I can't believe he's rung you. You need to change your mobile. I will pay whatever it costs. He will just keep ringing you. I'm so, so sorry'."

But as the divorce crisis grew more acrimonious, Jo became aware that Heather was sharing confidences with Ben, who became increasingly secretive.

She said: "We never used to have any secrets from each other. But it became clear that Heather had told him never to talk about her and Sir Paul. At one point, Ben even tried to deny to me that they were getting divorced. It really hurt that he would lie to me and it seemed he put her needs before our relationship."

Jo and Ben began to argue over Ben's apparent devotion to his new employer. Fighting back tears, Jo said: "We'd never had an argument before he went to work for her. People said we were the perfect couple.

"We'd lived together for two years when he took the job with her. We'd been saving to buy a house next year. We'd discussed marriage and the sort of children we'd have."

She paused, remembering how Ben ended their relationship unceremoniously on Sunday, September 13, while Jo was visiting a friend. She returned to find a neatly written note lying on the mat. Fearing the worst, she took it to her friend's home nearby to read.

In it, Ben said he had been thinking '24/7' about the event of the past few months. "I wish I could say this to you in person," he wrote, "but I fear how you would react." He said he hated to think of her unhappy but that "it is time that we go our separate ways". He concluded, "Please phone or text me when you are not in the house so I may move the remainder of my stuff."

Jo said: "I burst into tears when I read it, it was so hurtful. He should have said those things to my face. I deserved at least that."

Ben moved out two weeks later. Jo remained at the Ashford house, though she has since moved in with friends. Ben has moved back to his parents' home near Rye, a half-hour drive from Ashford and three miles from Peasmarsh. They continued to pay for the rented house until this weekend, when the lease was up.

But Jo had not heard the last of Heather Mills. Indeed, the message Heather left on her mobile phone only last month was arguably the most extraordinary step in the saga yet.

Jo said: "I couldn't believe Heather had rung me. I had always wondered if she and Ben were having an affair - Ben always denied it to me.

"But then I got this chatty message, saying, "Hi Jo, it's Heather Mills-McCartney." She went on to say, "I swear on my daughter's life that nothing has ever or will ever go on between me and Ben. Anyone who knows me knows I adore my daughter...that's just to reassure you."

"I don't know why she had to reassure me of anything. The call came as she was heading for the airport with Ben, for a £4,000 ($7,565) trip to Los Angeles. By then, it was one of many similar trips.

"At the end of the message, Heather offered to send protection men to look after me at the bank to guard me from unwelcome Press she and Ben might attract by travelling together. So really she was only interested in herself - and making sure I didn't speak out."

Over the past few months, Jo's heartbreak over the broken relationship has been made worse by frequent photographs of Ben and Heather - at airports and cycling along Brighton seafront where Heather used to ride with Sir Paul.

Jo said: "It hurts when I see pictures of him with her. I saw the one where he's riding a mountain bike alongside her. It's something we used to do, too; go for rides together."

She says she is now less certain than ever about the nature of Ben's relationship with Heather. In some ways, it seems, she would rather not think about it.

"I still can't really believe he's gone, that our relationship is over,' she said. "Friends tell me that Heather will eventually dump him and that she's just using him. But that's the trouble - Ben's very friendly and kind towards people in need.

"Ben says Heather's really nice when you get to know her properly, but I can't help thinking that if she knew our relationship was in trouble, why didn't she do more to help?

"All the calls made from her and Ben seem to be because they are wary of what publicity might come out. I don't get the feeling they care for me.

"Heather rang my father from America on the October 8 - a Sunday - ostensibly concerned about me but then she told him if he had any trouble with the Press to ring Ben's parents and it would be sorted out.

"At the end of the day, it seems they both only care about themselves."

Last night, representatives for Ben, Heather Mills and Sir Paul all declined to comment. But Heather's spokesman did confirm that Ben was no longer 'only' Miss Mills's personal trainer. "He has been elevated to the role of bodyguard," he said.

Sir Paul McCartney's London home in the mid 1960s, which he shared with actress girlfriend Jane Asher and where he wrote Beatles hits such as Yesterday and Eleanor Rigby, is on sale for £4.15million ($7.8 million)

WEBMASTER'S NOTE: This is Jane Asher's parents' house on Wimpole St. not Cavendish

"No dark secrets" on Linda McCartney tapes

Sir Paul McCartney's friends have insisted that tapes of revelations made by his first wife Linda contain "no dark secrets".

The former Beatle threatened legal action to prevent the tapes from being made public, leading to speculation that the "dynamite" audio diary would destroy the perception of their marriage as one of the strongest in showbiz.

However close friends of Paul's have pointed out that all couples row and believe that Linda simply made the tapes to let off steam. They have also rejected claims that the recordings could be used in Paul's divorce battle with Heather Mills.

One source told the Daily Star: "It's no surprise that Paul doesn't want these tapes getting out, because he's an extremely private person. Of course his marriage to Linda wasn't perfect and they had their fair share of arguments. Linda would simply have wanted to vent her spleen on the tapes.

"But Paul knows there are no dark secrets to come out and the tapes should have absolutely no bearing on his current situation with Heather."

Heather Mills McCartney says she'll sue but has she a cause of action?

A week on from supposedly leaked divorce papers and it is fair to say that Heather Mills McCartney has received a mauling at the hands of the press. It is also fair to say, as her lawyers have stated, that this has been extremely upsetting and damaging for her.

The question she will be asking herself and that the legal process will be required to test is: is it illegal and does it overstep the boundaries of what can be deemed as justified or fair in relation to the effect it has on Mills McCartney's private life and reputation?

To the extent that the family courts are likely to take a dim view of last week's "revelations", beyond threatening to report the press for contempt, they are not going to step in to stem the flow of derogatory copy about Mills McCartney and her alleged motives. If she wants protection or compensation, she will need to pursue a defamation or privacy claim.

The difficulty on both counts is that the damage has been done.

A series of defamatory allegations appeared in the press earlier this year, her split from Sir Paul being taken as a signal by journalists that it was now open season on her.

Having suffered allegations of being a "liar", "fantasist" and a "former hooker", Mills McCartney may have hoped that last week's revelations might send some sympathy back in her direction.

Far from doing so, they have merely served as an excuse for a fresh examination of her character and credibility.

Having declared, through her lawyers, that she would be seeking to sue the Mail and the London Evening Standard (and possibly the Sun later) over their allegations, can Mills McCartney counter their coverage with a cogent cause of action?

The Sun has been merciless in its response to her complaints and has basically taunted her by suggesting that she has no reputation left to protect.

But is it for the Sun to suggest or a court to decide?

There can be no denying that the sum total of recent coverage Mills McCartney has been subjected to is defamatory and damaging. With allegations phrased as suggestions and spread across several papers, will she be able to make a specific claim stick?

Where the papers have strayed beyond the provable, they may seek to argue their comment is fair. The fairness of some comment may, were it to come to court, be extinguished by malice - do we need to be reminded several times in one piece that she has one leg? - but that will be for a jury to decide if a libel action ensues.

If it can be shown that a claimant has no reputation deserving of protection, the courts are unlikely to uphold a defamation claim.

This was made clear in the 2002 case of footballer Bruce Grobbelaar and News Group Newspapers in which Lord Bingham stated: "The tort of defamation protects those whose reputations have been unlawfully injured. It affords little or no protection to those who have, or deserve to have, no reputation deserving of legal protection".

While it will be for the press to justify their attacks on Mills McCartney's reputation, she for her part may have to argue that insofar as they may be deemed to be untrue, they have damaged her reputation.

Beyond defamation, she may argue that her privacy has been invaded. The right to respect for her private and family life is protected through the operation of the Human Rights Act and reflected in the press complaints code.

The problem here is that her life and divorce have been conducted very much in public. So if she is seeking protection through privacy laws, the courts will need to assess her reasonable expectation of privacy and separate it as a human right from the publicity surrounding it.

Thus far her lawyers have not confirmed what cause of action she may be seeking to sue under while the various papers implicated have all said they will vigourously stand by their stories.

The bitter irony remains that the only claims that have not been defended by the newspapers as being true are those in the leaked papers that have rekindled this row.

October 27, 2006 -- Daily Mail

Linda to give evidence from beyond the grave in 'dynamite' marriage tapes

Sir Paul McCartney's divorce battle took an astonishing new twist last night after it emerged that his late wife Linda made a series of 'explosive' taped confessions about their relationship.

The 15 audio tapes are said to shed new light on Sir Paul's 29-year marriage to Linda, always regarded as one of the strongest in showbusiness.

Their existence raises the very real possibility of Linda giving evidence from beyond the grave in Sir Paul's messy divorce from second wife Heather Mills.

The judge who hears Sir Paul and Lady Heather's case would have the power to order the 20 hours of tapes to be played in court to establish whether they support Heather's claims that the former Beatle was violent.

Linda poured out her heart to confidante Peter Cox, with whom she wrote a vegetarian cookery book before her death in 1998.

Sir Paul's lawyers are so concerned about the contents of the tapes that they contacted 51-year-old Mr Cox earlier this week demanding that he sign a gagging order preventing him from making them public.

Mr Cox agreed to do so, but his legal representative made it clear yesterday that he would be happy to give evidence in court if he was called upon.

One source told the Mail: 'These tapes contain hours and hours of Linda McCartney pouring out her heart in her own words about what was going on in her marriage.

'The material is very private and very emotional. There were times when Linda was in tears as she spoke to Peter. She seemed to find the conversations cathartic.'

Another insider simply described the contents of the tapes as 'explosive'.

Mr Cox's legal representative Rodney Hylton-Potts said yesterday: 'The fact that Peter has got these tapes tells you a great deal about his relationship with Linda, because someone like that would only share these thoughts with a very close friend or confidante.'

The heart-to-heart sessions were mostly recorded in the McCartneys' kitchen in Peasmarsh, East Sussex.

Mr Cox made frequent visits there in 1988, when he and Linda would discuss ideas for their book Linda McCartney's Home Cooking, published in 1989.

As their friendship grew stronger, Linda began to confide in Mr Cox and disclosed day-to-day details of her family life.

Most of the tapes were recorded when Mr Cox was talking to Linda, who was 56 when she died of cancer, but some of them were recorded by her on her own and sent to Mr Cox.

Mr Cox, a former chief executive of the Vegetarian Society, signed a legal agreement in 1988 agreeing to keep the tapes confidential.

But earlier this week Sir Paul's legal team at law firm Sheridans wrote to Mr Cox to remind him of his previous undertaking, and demanding that he give a fresh guarantee to honour the agreement, or face legal action. He signed a new agreement on Thursday.

But Mr Cox, of Marylebone, west London, believes the agreement does not cover discussions he had with Linda which were not recorded on tape, and he spent yesterday inviting financial offers from newspapers both here and in America for his story.

Mr Hylton-Potts said: 'He is able to talk about conversations which he had with Linda which were not recorded on the tapes.'

Mr Hylton-Potts was struck off as a lawyer in 1997 after being sent to prison for five years for his part in a £2.3m mortgage fraud. He served two and a half years of his sentence before being released on parole, and set himself up as a 'legal adviser'.

Last year he won the ITV reality show Vote For Me, in which viewers voted for would-be politicians, but was then accused of making racist comments behind the scenes, which he denied.

The existence of the Linda McCartney tapes, which are in Mr Cox's possession, is an uncanny echo of the devastating videotaped confessions made by Princess Diana during sessions with her voice coach Peter Settelen, which also emerged after her death.

Like Linda, Diana revealed intimate details of her married life, including the fact that Prince Charles had virtually stopped sleeping with her after the birth of Prince Harry.

In divorce papers leaked to the Daily Mail earlier this month, Lady Heather, 38, accuses 64-year-old Sir Paul of assaulting her on at least four occasions, once slashing her arm with a broken wine glass. She also said he was regularly drunk and took illegal drugs during their four-year marriage.

She is said to be seeking at least £100m of Sir Paul's £825m fortune, but the Sir Paul has denied her claims and said he will 'vigorously' defend them in court.

A spokesman for Sir Paul said yesterday they would be making no comment on the issue of the tapes.

Lady Heather's spokesman said: 'She is aware of the existence of these tapes, having been alerted by the media over the last 24 hours. We won't be making any comment at the moment.'

The 64-year-old former Beatle emerged from his luxury home in St John's Wood and appeared unconcerned over claims he had threatened a court order to prevent the publication of 15 hours worth of intimate tapes made by his former wife Linda about their marriage.

The tapes are in the possession of Peter Cox, a close friend of Linda's, and it is said they may cast a different light on Macca's 29 year marriage to Linda, which had always been regarded as one of the strongest in showbusiness.

Today Sir Paul, wearing a black jacket and red jumper, maintained a dignified silence and refused to answer questions, but waved his hands before driving off in his dark blue Lexus 4x4.

20 hours of her most intimate thoughts on her marriage to Macca.. could they now become the focus of his divorce battle with Heather?

Sir Paul McCartney yesterday gagged tapes of intimate revelations made by his first wife Linda.

Linda, who died in 1998, documented extraordinary details of their 29-year marriage in 15 tapes now held by her friend Peter Cox. It is understood they shed an alternative light on her "golden" relationship with Sir Paul, 64.

Amid fears they were to be made public and could feature in his divorce from Heather Mills, Macca, won an undertaling they would stay secret. An insider said: "They're dynamite."

The 15 audio tapes are believed to cast an alternative light on the former Beatle's 29-year marriage to Linda, always understood to be one of showbiz's strongest.

They contain such intimate disclosures that yesterday Macca, 64, stopped Linda's close friend Peter Cox making them public with the threat of court action.

But their existence is bound to haunt the star's bitter divorce wrangle with his second wife Heather, 38 ­ and could even become the centrepiece of their battle.

An insider said: "They're dynamite. Linda begins to unburden her troubles and the tapes become an audio diary.

"It's a private and emotional confessional She vents feelings which she'd not dared share with even her closest loved ones. She found the tapes cathartic."

Amid fears that Mr Cox might make the tapes public, Sir Paul's management company MPLCommunications threatened to take him to the High Court unless he agreed in writing not to do so.

The threat was issued by top law firm Sheridans and sent to Mr Cox's representative Rodney Hylton-Potts, a leading London lawyer.

Sheridans demanded an undertaking, which was granted, not to disclose the contents of the tapes by 4pm yesterday.

A source revealed: "Mr Cox has been silenced and the tapes remain a secret... for now."

Last night Heather's spokesman said she was aware of the tapes but would not comment.

However a friend of the former model said: "These tapes may well be crucial in any divorce proceedings. At the moment there's a lot of claim and counter claim."

Linda, who died of cancer in 1998 aged 56, co-wrote with fellow vegetarian Mr Cox

Linda McCartney's Home Cooking, published in 1989.

During months of planning for the book

Linda kept an audio record of her recipes and ideas, sending updates to Mr Cox.

But as their friendship blossomed, she also began to share insights into her marriage. Mr Cox spent "hours and hours" in the McCartney's kitchen in Peasmarsh, East Sussex, as Linda disclosed the day-to-day intimacies of her family life.

Today Mr Cox, a literary publisher and former chief executive of the Vegetarian Society, has the only copies of the tapes which have been a closely kept secret for 18 years. If sub-poenaed by Heather, he will appear in court as a witness in her divorce. Despite Mr Cox's strong friendship with Linda, he had an icy relationship with Sir Paul.

The insider said: "Peter never got on with Paul. They rubbed each other up the wrong way. There was no love lost between them.

"Even after Linda's death, there was no thawing of relations. Peter was rankled he wasn't invited to Linda's funeral. He's never forgiven Paul for that."

Heather was furious when Macca filed for divorce in July, citing her unreasonable behaviour.

In leaked documents she accused her estranged husband of assaulting her on at least four occasions ­ once slashing her arm with a broken wine glass ­ being regularly drunk and taking illegal drugs.

Sir Paul denied her claims and said he will "vigorously" defend himself in court.

Heather, married for four years, is said to be seeking at least £100 million of Sir Paul's £825 million fortune.

The couple originally vowed to keep their divorce amicable for the sake of their daughter Beatrice, who is three tomorrow.

But the split has become increasingly poisonous. Heather's spokesman said: "We stress again that she stands by everything that's been filed on her behalf."

October 27, 2006 -- Hello Magazine

Sir Paul gets by with a little help from his friends

Paul McCartney seemed to have put his troubles behind him, for one night at least, as he attended the launch of a new cafe at London's National Gallery with a pal on Thursday.

Asked how he was, the former Beatle replied "terrific" as he arrived with the artist Brian Clarke, who is a close friend. During his first public appearance since court details of his impending divorce from Heather were leaked to the press, Paul appeared relaxed and in good spirits.

"It's a very difficult time for me," the 64-year-old recently admitted. "But with the support of my friends and family, I'm managing to get through." He also revealed he still wants an amicable conclusion to his increasingly acrimonious divorce settlement, for the sake of his and Heather's daughter, who turns three on Saturday. "I'm just hoping for a happy resolution, particularly for the sake of our beautiful daughter, Beatrice, and my other children, who are all beautiful. Fingers crossed."

Sir Paul made the comments to a US magazine before allegations that he mistreated Heather hit the press. Last week the star's lawyers insisted he would "vigorously defend" himself over the claims.

In recent weeks loved-ones and close friends have rallied round the troubled singer. Earlier this week he joined daughter Stella and her publisher husband Alasdhair Willis for several hours at a pub in Notting Hill, where one onlooker noted, "they were all being very affectionate and supportive". Meanwhile, celebrities close to the multi-millionaire, including Cilla Black, Rod Stewart and Kate Moss, have all spoken out with words of support.

In the latest twist Paul is apparently blocking the disclosure of the contents of 15 audio tapes made by his late wife Linda. It is not known whether the 20 hours of taped material - which is in the hands of Linda's friend Peter Cox - has any relevance to the current proceedings.

Sir Paul, 64, looked sad, red-eyed and haggard over his divorce from Heather Mills.

Macca appeared tired and drained dressed in a baggy dark grey suit, light grey tie and white shirt. The Beatles legend also seemed to have lost weight.

He also visited his local boozer, The Cow in Notting Hill, West London, where a regular said: "The strain of the break-up really seems to be taking its toll.

"Sir Paul was almost unrecognisable from the happy, smiling face we saw in the papers before his split from Heather.

"It was sad to see one of Britain's biggest-ever stars looking so down." After leaving the pub, Macca went to see daughter Stella, 35.

McCartney staff named as witnesses to marital row

Heather Mills hopes to call at least four witnesses from Sir Paul McCartney's staff who, she says, will corroborate her claims that she has been a victim of cruelty and violence.

The names of the witnesses were contained in five pages missing from a legal document that was leaked to the media last week. They are understood to include office staff and at least one nanny employed by the former Beatle. Their names may have been deliberately shielded from publicity by whoever leaked the remaining eight pages of the document.

If the couple fail to reach a settlement, the witnesses could be compelled to provide affidavits and give evidence in the High Court.

The names of the witnesses coupled with claims yesterday that Mills, 38, has at least one tape recording of McCartney rowing with her could strengthen her case in Britain's most high-profile marital break-up since Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales.

There were claims yesterday that McCartney, 64, had withdrawn all security protection from Mills, even when she has custody of their daughter Beatrice, who is about to celebrate her third birthday. It was suggested that this might have prompted the leak of the court document by someone who believed that Mills was being unfairly treated.

McCartney's office refused to comment, but there was no sign of security yesterday when Mills left her seafront home in Hove, East Sussex, to visit a beauty salon. Beatrice was left in the care of Mills's personal trainer.

A friend of Mills said yesterday: "Paul removed his security men from Heather four months ago, but until nine days ago he always provided cover when Beatrice was with Heather.

"We know he doesn't want to spoil Beatrice, but the need for security is very different from when his other daughters were children. Heather can now no longer afford her own security men."

McCartney's lawyers are considering going to Lord Goldsmith, the attorney-general, to ask for an official investigation into the leak of the court documents, which portray the former Beatle as a heartless, wife-beating drunk.

The attorney-general's office has already started looking at the leak informally, but an official complaint would spur an investigation, carrying the likelihood that the police would be called in.

The Sunday Times has established that the papers leaked last week were not the same as the cross petition that was filed at the High Court on Mills's behalf by Mishcon de Reya.

They were an earlier draft of the document which was circulated only between Mills and her legal team led by Anthony Julius, who secured a £17m settlement for Diana.

This would rule out a leak from McCartney or his legal team at Payne Hicks Beach, led by Fiona Shackleton, who represented Prince Charles in the royal divorce.

Payne Hicks Beach never had access to the document.

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