McCartney 'to separate from wife'
Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 6:39 am
LONDON, England (CNN) -- Former Beatle Paul McCartney and his wife Heather Mills are planning to separate after four years of marriage, according to media reports.
Representatives of the couple declined to comment Wednesday, but said a statement was expected later in the day.
The UK Daily Mirror newspaper quoted a source saying: "Paul hasn't come to this decision lightly, but felt things couldn't carry on as they were."
McCartney, 63, an anti-landmines campaigner Mills, 38, married in 2002, four years after the pop legend's first wife Linda died from cancer. The couple have a child, Beatrice, born in 2003.
The Outside Organization, which represents McCartney,said a statement was being prepared.
McCartney, who was knighted "Sir Paul" by the British queen in 1997, is one of the world's richest rock stars, with a personal fortune put at £762 million ($1.4 billion) in 2004.
The Liverpool-born musician and songwriter made his name in the Beatles, alongside John Lennon, Ringo Starr and George Harrison, penning classics such as "Yesterday," "Hey Jude" and "The Long and Winding Road."
His 1969 marriage to his first wife, photographer Linda Eastman, was seen as one of the most successful in showbusiness -- the couple performed together in the band Wings and famously spent only a handful of days apart.
He married Mills, a former model who had her left leg amputated below the knee after she was hit by a motorcycle in 1993, in a lavish ceremony at an Irish castle.
McCartney's second marriage is widely reported to have caused friction with his children to Eastman, who include fashion designer daughter Stella.
Representatives of the couple declined to comment Wednesday, but said a statement was expected later in the day.
The UK Daily Mirror newspaper quoted a source saying: "Paul hasn't come to this decision lightly, but felt things couldn't carry on as they were."
McCartney, 63, an anti-landmines campaigner Mills, 38, married in 2002, four years after the pop legend's first wife Linda died from cancer. The couple have a child, Beatrice, born in 2003.
The Outside Organization, which represents McCartney,said a statement was being prepared.
McCartney, who was knighted "Sir Paul" by the British queen in 1997, is one of the world's richest rock stars, with a personal fortune put at £762 million ($1.4 billion) in 2004.
The Liverpool-born musician and songwriter made his name in the Beatles, alongside John Lennon, Ringo Starr and George Harrison, penning classics such as "Yesterday," "Hey Jude" and "The Long and Winding Road."
His 1969 marriage to his first wife, photographer Linda Eastman, was seen as one of the most successful in showbusiness -- the couple performed together in the band Wings and famously spent only a handful of days apart.
He married Mills, a former model who had her left leg amputated below the knee after she was hit by a motorcycle in 1993, in a lavish ceremony at an Irish castle.
McCartney's second marriage is widely reported to have caused friction with his children to Eastman, who include fashion designer daughter Stella.