As the McCartney-Mills marriage comes to an end, Beatles fan Róisín Ingle tries not to say 'I told you so'
It was a sunny day in June 2002 and the world's media were gathered outside Castle Leslie in the village of Glaslough, Co Monaghan where the wedding of ex-Beatle Paul McCartney and ex-model Heather Mills was taking place. As they waited for a quote from Sir Thumbs-a-loft himself reporters cracked jokes in increasingly bad taste, including musings on whether Mills, who lost part of a leg in a road accident in 1993, would be legless on her wedding night. Mostly, though, the hacks were busy telling each other what everyone except the couple seemed to be thinking: "She's only with him for the money" and "It'll never last".
That latter prediction came true this week with the couple announcing their separation, citing "constant intrusion into our private lives" among the reasons for the split. If the level of goodwill directed towards a couple at the outset of their marriage is any indication of longevity, the Mills-McCartney union never stood a chance.
I have to admit I was among the vast numbers of naysayers that afternoon but there was no joy this week in being able to say "told you so". Crouched at the feet of Paul McCartney during his brief press conference outside the castle I remember hoping - as a Macca fan rather than as a journalist - that there was still a chance he might develop last-minute cold feet.At a glamourous 34 to his grandfatherly 58, Heather Mills appeared far too young for him, although I concede my reservations on this score might just have been old-fashioned jealousy. (After Linda died I rather fancied my chances if truth be told.) The fact that Mills wasn't a Beatles fan before she met McCartney didn't endear me to her either. Listening to Let It Be on the radio she is said to have remarked, "that's a nice tune", after which an amused Macca informed his girlfriend that he had written it. Her attitude to his genius seemed to verge on the blasphemous.
Neither did it bode well that he had started the relationship in 1999, barely a year after the death from breast cancer of his beloved wife Linda. If that wasn't warning enough, on the eve of the wedding rumours were flying around the tiny village of Glaslough that his adult children, including fashion designer Stella, loathed anti-landmine campaigner Mills so much they had considered not turning up.
IN THE END they did, of course. And Paul and Heather got hitched, with Mills giving birth to a daughter, Beatrice Milly, two years ago. Now as they go their separate ways it's with crushing inevitability that Mills - a woman vilified in the press variously as a wicked stepmother, uber-nag and calculating gold-digger - has emerged as the villain of the piece.
Her alleged crimes are various. Critics say she tried to style Paul, who she thought was hopelessly out of touch with fashion. That she banned him from smoking marijuana, an activity he used to enjoy every day with Linda. That his children hated her and that she was crucial in his sacking of his long-time assistant Geoff Baker. That she resented her husband's massive fame. That she was anxious to step up her passionate and vocal campaigns against fur while McCartney was anxious for her to be more supportive of his continuing music career. The list was never-ending.
On Mills's website, in a section called Fact and Fiction, the couple refute all these allegations in what seems like unnecessary detail and, even as he announced the separation this week, McCartney slammed anyone who dared to speculate that his money had bought Mills's love.
Mills never signed a pre-nuptial agreement, saying in the past that she would have been willing to do so but that her husband viewed such an arrangement as "unromantic". It's still unknown what portion of McCartney's £800 million (€1.18 billion) fortune Mills is likely to receive, but settling for less than the £300m (€442.8 million) she may be entitled to would be one way to show she was never in it for the money.
While the split is reported to have been preceded by vicious rows, the couple said in a joint statement that "both of us still care about each other very much". Sources close to McCartney have said that in his middle age - he turns the magical 64 next month - the star just wanted a quiet life, without the screaming rows that were said to be a hallmark of their short-lived marriage.
And while McCartney is correct in saying that over the past four years the marriage was placed under intolerable scrutiny, this argument, like Macca, is a bit rich. As any avid Beatle-watcher knows, the relationship between Paul and Linda McCartney came under just as much pressure. That relationship endured despite cruel jibes in the media and from fans about Linda's looks and lack of talent. By the time she died, Linda McCartney was a national treasure in Britain.
That's a status Heather Mills was never likely to be granted, no matter how long she stayed married to the Beatle.