Paul McCartney & Wife Separate

By: Shannon Gossage

McCartney and Mills have blamed their split on life "in the spotlight." The couple said in a joint statement, "Having tried exceptionally hard to make our relationship work given the daily pressures surrounding us, it is with sadness that we have decided to go our separate ways. Our parting is amicable and both of us still care about each other very much." The statement went on to read: "We hope, for the sake of our baby daughter, that we will be given some space and time to get through this difficult period." The couple has a two-year old daughter, Beatrice.

McCartney and Mills met in 1999 at a charity event for Mills’ – the Heather Mills Health Trust. She set up the charity after losing her leg in a motorcycle accident in 1993. The couple wed in 2002 amid rumors that McCartney’s children were not too pleased with their new stepmother. McCartney was married to wife Linda for 30 years and they had three children. She died in 1998 of breast cancer.

Reportedly, McCartney and Mills did not sign a pre-nup. She has said in a past interview that she offered to sign one before they were married, but that McCartney refused. Now it seems that she may be entitled to a bit of his fortune. McCartney slammed rumors yesterday that Mills married him for his money. He released a statement on his Website that read, "It’s been suggested that she married me for the money and there is not an ounce of truth in this. She is a very generous person who spends most of her time trying to help others in greater need than herself." The statement goes on to read that all the work that she does is unpaid and that the stories are "ridiculous and unfounded."