McCartneys both want to battle it out in open court

Sir Paul McCartney is prepared to face his wife in open court so he can defend himself against the claims in her divorce petition.

He has told friends the gloves are off and he is determined to fight to save his reputation.

Heather Mills's lawyers are said to be taking the unusual step of asking for the £825million divorce battle to be heard in open court.

If they succeed, explicit details of one of the most high-profile and bitter marriage break-ups will be aired in public.

A source close to Sir Paul said the former Beatle, who has a two-year-old daughter with Miss Mills, would not be afraid to face a public hearing.

"He will go all the way with this if need be. He will go to open court.

"He has nothing to be afraid of. But he will maintain a dignified silence for the moment.

"At the end of the day there is a little girl caught in the middle of this."

Miss Mills's lawyers are said to be applying for the case to be heard in open court next month.

A legal source told the Mail on Sunday: "She wants to lay bare everything that happened in the marriage and make sure everyone hears her side of the story."

Last week the Daily Mail exclusively revealed the bombshell allegations in Miss Mills's divorce papers.

She accuses her estranged husband of assaulting her on a number of occasions during their four-year marriage.

Miss Mills, 38, claims Sir Paul stabbed her in the arm with a broken wine glass, pushed her into a bath, grabbed her by the neck and pushed her over a coffee table.

She also says he drank to excess and took drugs.

Aides to Sir Paul, 64, claimed it was in fact Miss Mills who had been violent during their relationship.

An insider told The News of the World that staff at Sir Paul's 160-acre Peasmarsh estate had witnessed clashes between the couple.

One incident became known as the 'ketchup battle' after they found evidence that a bottle of tomato sauce had been flung at the place Sir Paul normally sits in September 2003.