McCartney 'will pay £70 million to silence Heather'
by RICHARD SIMPSON
It is believed Heather Mills will receive almost £70 million in her divorce deal with Sir Paul McCartney
Sir Paul McCartney and Heather Mills are understood to have thrashed out a divorce deal in which she will receive almost £70 million.
Miss Mills, who split from the former Beatle in May last year after four years of marriage, is believed to be in line for a lump sum of £15 million.
If the deal goes through she will get another £3.5million every year until their daughter Beatrice, who will be four in October, reaches her 18th birthday.
The divorce settlement - which would be the largest in British legal history - will include a clause ensuring that neither party ever speaks publicly about what led to the breakdown of their marriage, the Daily Mail has learned.
Commentators believe that the plan to stagger the bulk of the payment reflects Sir Paul's concern that Miss Mills, who has courted the media as a reality TV star in the U.S. since the split, should maintain a dignified silence.
In divorce papers leaked last October, Miss Mills accused Sir Paul of assaulting her at least four times, once slashing her arm with a broken wine glass.
She also said he was drunk regularly and smoked cannabis during their marriage and that he prevented her from breastfeeding Beatrice.
Miss Mills will not, it is understood, get any property in the agreement. She already has a seaside home in Hove, East Sussex, and recently bought a £400,000 house in Slovenia as well as a large property in the Home Counties. She will not, as has been suggested, get Sir Paul's £10 million London home in St John's Wood, which he has had since the 1970s.
Sir Paul, 65, will also pay for all of Beatrice's living expenses including her schooling, travel, nannies and security. He and Miss Mills will continue to share joint access to their daughter.
In recent months there has been frenzied to-ing and fro-ing between lawyers for both sides.
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Miss Mills, 39, is understood to have been pushing for a larger interim payment equivalent to £15 million after tax. The annual payment has also wavered in that time between £3.75 million and £3.5 million.
The agreement is being seen as a happy outcome, financially at least, for both parties. Sir Paul is paying a smaller lump sum than Miss Mills feels she deserves. But she will still end up with a very large total for someone whose marriage broke up after only four years.
By staggering the amount over the next 15 years - by which time Sir Paul will be 80 - he will get his wish that Miss Mills should not speak about the marriage publicly.
Sir Paul, who has never spoken about the break-up, is understood to feel that for Beatrice's sake as much as anything, intimate details of their family life should not be for public consumption.
Sir Paul: Said to be worth £825 million
Spokesmen for Sir Paul and Miss Mills said last night that they would not comment on the progress of the divorce. But sources on both sides have confirmed to the Mail that the financial details of the settlement have been agreed.
The legal process before the divorce is fully finalised may, however, stretch out until next year.
In recent months there has been a thawing of relations between the pair who immediately after the split went through a long period of communicating only through lawyers. They now speak regularly, and if one recent report is to believed, even plan a family holiday.
Lawyers are, however, still on standby in case the agreement between Sir Paul and the unpredictable and passionate Miss Mills disintegrates at the 11th hour. To that end the case remains listed for a five-day hearing next February, before Mr Justice Bennett, a family High Court judge.
One source close to Miss Mills said last night: "We're extremely close to a resolution. The figures have been agreed."
Speaking about the reasons why negotiations have been so drawn out, the source said: "Heather wants her story told - she sees herself as the victim. She wants to have what she calls 'a voice'.
"She feels she should have that platform to turn around media perceptions about her. McCartney's lawyers are saying she can't talk about the marriage at all - a total blackout.
"But Heather's argument is that that's a very grey area. If she wants to update her biography, for example, she says she can't just pretend the marriage never happened.
"But she will not be able to hint at any foul play that may or not have taken place, or anything like drug taking or drinking or how either of them have, and do, interact with Beatrice. It's a very complex agreement.
"Heather is very aware that five years down the road, she'll just be a Beatle's ex-wife. To capitalise on the split, she would need to bring out a book now. She wants to have this voice. But she wants to get as much money as she can get too."
The source added: "It's true to say Paul and Heather are getting on better now than ever since the split, but she's a hard woman and is still angry about the way she feels she and Beatrice were left vulnerable after the split."
In recent months there has been much speculation as to the nature of the deal, with estimates varying wildly.
Some reports suggested the rather unlikely situation in which Miss Mills would get nothing - since Sir Paul apparently increased his wealth by very little during their marriage. Other reports claimed she would receive £200million of his reported £825 million fortune.
At £70 million, the settlement would still overshadow the £48 million insurance broker John Charman, 53, was ordered to give his former wife Beverley in May in Britain's biggest contested divorce settlement.
by RICHARD SIMPSON
It is believed Heather Mills will receive almost £70 million in her divorce deal with Sir Paul McCartney
Sir Paul McCartney and Heather Mills are understood to have thrashed out a divorce deal in which she will receive almost £70 million.
Miss Mills, who split from the former Beatle in May last year after four years of marriage, is believed to be in line for a lump sum of £15 million.
If the deal goes through she will get another £3.5million every year until their daughter Beatrice, who will be four in October, reaches her 18th birthday.
The divorce settlement - which would be the largest in British legal history - will include a clause ensuring that neither party ever speaks publicly about what led to the breakdown of their marriage, the Daily Mail has learned.
Commentators believe that the plan to stagger the bulk of the payment reflects Sir Paul's concern that Miss Mills, who has courted the media as a reality TV star in the U.S. since the split, should maintain a dignified silence.
In divorce papers leaked last October, Miss Mills accused Sir Paul of assaulting her at least four times, once slashing her arm with a broken wine glass.
She also said he was drunk regularly and smoked cannabis during their marriage and that he prevented her from breastfeeding Beatrice.
Miss Mills will not, it is understood, get any property in the agreement. She already has a seaside home in Hove, East Sussex, and recently bought a £400,000 house in Slovenia as well as a large property in the Home Counties. She will not, as has been suggested, get Sir Paul's £10 million London home in St John's Wood, which he has had since the 1970s.
Sir Paul, 65, will also pay for all of Beatrice's living expenses including her schooling, travel, nannies and security. He and Miss Mills will continue to share joint access to their daughter.
In recent months there has been frenzied to-ing and fro-ing between lawyers for both sides.
I'm worth it, says ex-wife after sealing record £48m divorce deal
Spielberg and Diamond top Forbes' costliest divorces list
Abramovich 'gives ex-wife £1bn and four homes in world's costliest divorce'
Miss Mills, 39, is understood to have been pushing for a larger interim payment equivalent to £15 million after tax. The annual payment has also wavered in that time between £3.75 million and £3.5 million.
The agreement is being seen as a happy outcome, financially at least, for both parties. Sir Paul is paying a smaller lump sum than Miss Mills feels she deserves. But she will still end up with a very large total for someone whose marriage broke up after only four years.
By staggering the amount over the next 15 years - by which time Sir Paul will be 80 - he will get his wish that Miss Mills should not speak about the marriage publicly.
Sir Paul, who has never spoken about the break-up, is understood to feel that for Beatrice's sake as much as anything, intimate details of their family life should not be for public consumption.
Sir Paul: Said to be worth £825 million
Spokesmen for Sir Paul and Miss Mills said last night that they would not comment on the progress of the divorce. But sources on both sides have confirmed to the Mail that the financial details of the settlement have been agreed.
The legal process before the divorce is fully finalised may, however, stretch out until next year.
In recent months there has been a thawing of relations between the pair who immediately after the split went through a long period of communicating only through lawyers. They now speak regularly, and if one recent report is to believed, even plan a family holiday.
Lawyers are, however, still on standby in case the agreement between Sir Paul and the unpredictable and passionate Miss Mills disintegrates at the 11th hour. To that end the case remains listed for a five-day hearing next February, before Mr Justice Bennett, a family High Court judge.
One source close to Miss Mills said last night: "We're extremely close to a resolution. The figures have been agreed."
Speaking about the reasons why negotiations have been so drawn out, the source said: "Heather wants her story told - she sees herself as the victim. She wants to have what she calls 'a voice'.
"She feels she should have that platform to turn around media perceptions about her. McCartney's lawyers are saying she can't talk about the marriage at all - a total blackout.
"But Heather's argument is that that's a very grey area. If she wants to update her biography, for example, she says she can't just pretend the marriage never happened.
"But she will not be able to hint at any foul play that may or not have taken place, or anything like drug taking or drinking or how either of them have, and do, interact with Beatrice. It's a very complex agreement.
"Heather is very aware that five years down the road, she'll just be a Beatle's ex-wife. To capitalise on the split, she would need to bring out a book now. She wants to have this voice. But she wants to get as much money as she can get too."
The source added: "It's true to say Paul and Heather are getting on better now than ever since the split, but she's a hard woman and is still angry about the way she feels she and Beatrice were left vulnerable after the split."
In recent months there has been much speculation as to the nature of the deal, with estimates varying wildly.
Some reports suggested the rather unlikely situation in which Miss Mills would get nothing - since Sir Paul apparently increased his wealth by very little during their marriage. Other reports claimed she would receive £200million of his reported £825 million fortune.
At £70 million, the settlement would still overshadow the £48 million insurance broker John Charman, 53, was ordered to give his former wife Beverley in May in Britain's biggest contested divorce settlement.
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