PAUL MCCARTNEY and HEATHER MILLS

Paul McCartney has admitted that his marriage to Heather Mills was one of the biggest mistakes of his life. So what went wrong?

It looked like a fairy tale in the making when they wed in a lavish $3.2 million ceremony at Castle Leslie in Glaslough, Ireland. There was nothing fairy tale about the reported six-day hearing and $48.6 million awarded to Heather Mills in the divorce settlement though. It is considered to be among one of the most expensive divorces not only in the UK, but also in the world.

When the two were married, in 2002, there was already an overpowering anti-Heather opinion in the news media, with many anonymous “friends” of the couple stirring the pot. During the hearing numerous allegations were thrown at Paul including substance abuse and mania. She hit him with a left hook by calling him “old” and “boring”.  Heather, on the other hand, was accused of being a latter-day Yoko Ono. She was said to have come between Paul and his children, his friends, and even his longtime publicist.  Geoff Baker, allegedly left his job as Paul’s publicist after Heather made his life unbearable. As a couple, they were said to argue constantly; she reportedly even threw her engagement ring into the bushes outside their hotel room in a pre-wedding fight.

Unfortunately for him, there also wasn’t a premarital agreement. In the UK, the female spouse is entitled to half of the couple’s net worth belonging to the male spouse. As in many divorces, there was a battle over how much his net worth actually was. He said $125 million and she said $400 million. In the end Heather Mills walked away with around $50 million.