Mills Wants Total Verdict Kept Secret
By Cesar G. Soriano
LONDON — A day after a judge ordered former Beatle Paul McCartney to give Heather Mills $48.6 million in a divorce settlement, Mills will be back in the Royal Courts of Justice to appeal a decision to make the complete verdict public.
“I’m not appealing against the judgment because it’s not worth it,” she told reporters Monday. “I’m appealing against the publication of it because it has so many details (addresses, for example) of me and my daughter in it. It has a stay on it until the appeal” today.
McCartney, 65, left court Monday saying only, “All will be revealed.”
In a closed-door hearing, Judge Hugh Bennett awarded Mills, 40, $33 million plus $15.6 million in assets and property she now owns, according to a summary of the verdict released to reporters. McCartney also was ordered to pay $70,000 a year in child support to the couple’s 4-year-old daughter, Beatrice, plus all nanny and education fees.
Outside the courthouse, Mills criticized aspects of the settlement but said she was “very, very happy” with it.
Mills blasted the court claim that McCartney’s estate is worth $800 million. “Everyone knows he has been worth ($1.6 billion) the last 15 years,” Mills said. Of the child-support figure, Mills said, “(Beatrice) is obviously meant to travel (economy) class while her father travels (first) class.”
A gag order prevented Mills from discussing specifics of the case, but her sister had no qualms.
“I just can’t believe a man could be that low,” Fiona Mills told reporters. “He sued his three best friends (the other Beatles), remember. It’s been a nightmare. I’m not exaggerating.”
The couple were married in 2002 but split less than four years later. From the beginning, McCartney and Mills seemed the unlikely couple. He is the beloved music icon. She was a former model turned activist after losing part of a leg in a motorcycle accident. They met in 1999, one year after his wife of 29 years, Linda, died of breast cancer.
The past 21 months of divorce proceedings have been at times ugly. McCartney’s divorce filing cited his wife’s “unreasonable behavior.” Nude photos of Mills, taken before their marriage, were published.
McCartney hired lawyer Fiona Shackleton, who represented Prince Charles in his divorce from Princess Diana. Mills had been represented by Diana’s lawyer, Anthony Julius, but later chose to represent herself.
Mills launched a campaign to improve her image. She competed in the U.S. version of Dancing With the Stars last year.
She threatened to sue the media for labeling her a “gold digger.”
The couple met in February in a last-ditch effort to reach a settlement, but days of hearings failed.
Mills is staying put for now. “I can’t leave England,” she said. “Believe me, if I tried to go, he’d have an injunction on me in a second.” (c) Copyright 2008 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.