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The Mills- McCartney Divorce: It's Getting Ugly

After a humiliating episode in which the former Mrs. Paul McCartney discovered that her estranged husband had changed the locks, Heather Mills-McCartney is fighting back by upping the legal ante in their impending divorce proceedings.

British tabloid The Daily Mirror reported that police were called on Monday (August 7) to the couple's North London home, which they had formerly shared and which is now occupied solely by Paul. Heather was apparently there to drop off the couple's two-year-old daughter, Beatrice, but discovered upon arriving that Macca wasn't home and that she couldn't unlock the estate's driveway gate. Finally, an exasperated Heather sent her driver climbing over the fence to unlock the gate from inside, whereupon Paul's household staff called the police and reported an intruder.

Once police arrived on the scene, the incident was chalked up to a misunderstanding, and Heather and Beatrice were allowed to enter the house, where they apparently spent the night. No word on whether or not Paul ever came home.

The lock-changing stunt wasn't the former Beatle's first attempt to turn the screws on his estranged wife. He's also frozen the couple's joint bank account, and even sent a letter to Mill-McCartney's representatives complaining that she had removed three bottles of cleaner from the couple's home for personal use.

Immediately following the lock-changing dust-up, Mills-McCartney's camp fired the next salvo, announcing yesterday (August 8) that she has retained the services of divorce attorney Anthony Julius, who represented Princess Diana in her nasty divorce battle with Prince Charles. Paul, for his part, has already hired Fiona Shackleton, Prince Charles' divorce attorney, setting the stage for a legal rematch that has the British press in an uproar.

Up for grabs in the case is an ex-Beatle's fortune worth an estimated 850 million pounds, or about $1.6 billion.

--The ARTISTdirect Staff
08.09.06