Heather Mills to sue over "upsetting" divorce claims
Sir Paul and Lady Heather Mills McCartney in happier times
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Tuesday, 24, Oct 2006 04:51
Heather Mills, the estranged wife of Sir Paul McCartney, is to sue a number of British newspapers over "false, damaging, and immensely upsetting" claims relating to their divorce.
In what has been one of the most high profile divorce cases since Prince Charles and Princess Diana, Lady McCartney has been lambasted by some tabloids for her conduct during and since her marriage to the former Beatle.
Mishcon de Reya, lawyers acting on behalf of Lady McCartney, announced in a statement today that she has started legal proceedings against the Evening Standard and the Daily Mail.
"It would appear that the media has concluded that there are no limits to what may be said about, or done to, our client," the statement said.
Proceedings are also said to be due shortly against the Sun.
The statement added that other papers may have printed claims about her that she would sue over, but that their client has "a limit" to the measures that she can pursue against the press.
"Her time and resources are not infinite," the statement said.
"She cannot sue - for now, at least - every single newspaper that has published false, damaging, and immensely upsetting statements about her. She should not thereby be taken to have accepted that these statements are true."
Reports have claimed that Lady McCartney had been offered a settlement of £30 million by Sir Paul - a settlement that, the reports said, she rejected in the hopes of receiving a far larger sum from her estranged husband's estate.
Her lawyers have dismissed the claims, saying: "The truth is that no settlement offer, in any amount, has been made."
Media intrusion into her life has been intense as she has been "pursued everywhere she goes [and] stalked by press photographers.regardless of her safety or the safety of her daughter," the statement said.
The intrusion culminated recently after the Daily Mail wrote to Lady McCartney's sister and offered a "substantial sum" for any information about the divorce.
Her lawyers have now made a plea on behalf of Lady McCartney, "as a matter of common decency", "to show some restraint".