Maybe I got the philanthropist part wrong. Spokesperson would have been more apt.

Paul is divorcing Heather. He is the petitioner, she the respondent.

Under English law, they could have waited for two years, but it got ugly, so he petitioned on the basis of her unreasonable behaviour.

From the leaked divorce petition, his lawyers drafted it in such a way as to be as uncontentious as possible but at the same time including sufficient allegations of unreasonable behaviour to satisfy the law.

But she counter-petitioned, saying the marriage has broken down but not because of her, but because of his conduct.

Her cross-petition can be read here.


As far as the finances are concerned, the courts will usually only take the parties' conduct into account if it would be unfair to ignore it. In 95% of cases, a settlement is reached, because, for most people, the assets - and the available options for the parties - are limited so the lawyers are aware of the parameters within which they're working.

But for 'big money' cases there is a lot more at stake, which is why this has got dirty. What hasn't helped is that she's representing herself. "Anyone who acts as their own lawyer has a fool for a client" as the saying goes.

So, if she had lawyers acting for her, they'd be advising her to settle, but instead she runs a big risk of getting less than she's expecting, and maybe having to pay Paul's legal costs if she doesn't succeed in getting the court to award her more than he has probably already offered her in writing.

Heather Mills has been absolutely vilified in the press. But she doesn't come across as a likeable person, and there's also a ton of skeletons in her closet relating to allegations of her working as a prostitute in the 80s.

Her abrasiveness and arrogance haven't endeared her to anyone.

That's quite the summary, jan. Is Paul still a big pothead/vegan, or has he abandoned that particular habit since that Tokyo bust/Linda's death?

There's allegations in Heather's cross-petition about him smoking pot. He's vegetarian, but I don't know about vegan.

Apparently one of the bones of contention is that he wants Beatrice to go to a State school whereas Heather wants her educated privately. I'm with Heather on this one, if they want their kid ever to be able to read and write.

It's noble that he wants her to go to a public school, but, yeah, as a celeb, it might be hard for her.

The Clintons had this dilemma when they moved to Washington, and opted for a private school, after a bit of hand-wringing. I didn't blame them.

Thanks, jan for the synopsis! I now feel in the know. Thanks for the link.

I had it wrong. I thought Heather wanted the divorce.

If you want to know what's up with Heather, the person to ask is Olena.

bmarkey, I thought about asking Olena, but I was afraid that she would have a Heather bias.

I heard that Paul is not a nice guy.

From reading various people's memoirs of the Beatles, John could be a nasty bastard, but it'd be to your face. Paul would sneak around behind people's backs and get others to do his dirty work for him.