Mucca is "so so happy" with £24million divorce deal Monday, 17 March 2008
Heather Mills reached a settlement of £24.3 million in her divorce deal with Sir Paul McCartney, it was revealed this afternoon.
The former model looked delighted as she addressed the media on the steps of London's High Court after the ruling on her divorce from Sir Paul McCartney.
She said: "It was an incredible result in the end. I am happy with the outcome. It was fair. I am glad its over and I hope this ruling is reported fairly and with balance.”
She added: "I will be appealing against the judgment being made public, not against the ruling. I just want to thank everybody, especially my sister for being so supportive for me.
"The Judge claimed that he (Sir Paul) is only worth £400m. But everyone knows that he's been worth £800m for the past 15 years.
"All of you who have researched know that it was always going to be a figure between 20 and 30 million. Paul was offering a lot less than that, which you'll see in the judgment, and very much last minute to put me and Beatrice sadly through this."
It was revealed that Sir Paul had initially offered £15.8 million, but Miss Mills eventually reached a settlement of £24.3 million.
“Paul wanted to send Beatrice to a public school, but he insisted we move out of the area. He got a voluntary demolition order to tear down the cabin so we moved to Brighton which forced us to move schools.
"That’s the school that Paul wanted. That’s what happens with powerful people."
And on rumours that she'll now choose to live abroad, Heather said: “I can’t leave England. I always wanted to keep my daughter beside her father, and believe me if I did want to move he’d (Sir Paul) would have an injunction against me.”
The warring couple spent six days in court in an acrimonious battle to decide the slice Miss Mills should have of the former Beatle's fortune after four years of marriage.
Mr Justice Bennett delivered the details of his decision in private at the High Court in London .
Some lawyers had claimed it could be the biggest contested divorce settlement in British legal history with a final payout of around £60 million.
But more conservative estimates put the figure at around £10 million because of the short duration of the marriage and the fact that most of Sir Paul's wealth was established decades before the couple met.
Even if one or both of the McCartneys decide to keep the divorce judgment a secret, the whole matter could come into the open if either side is unhappy with the ruling and decides to go to the Court of Appeal.
Appeal hearings of private Family Division cases are held in public so not only will the settlement be in the open, but also any deals covering gagging orders, security arrangements, properties, and custody of their four-year-old daughter, Beatrice.
While Sir Paul's legal team, headed by Fiona Shackleton who represented the Prince of Wales in his divorce, has reportedly denied he is worth £835 million, Miss Mills is alleging the figure is more than £1 billion.
The highest divorce payout awarded by a British court was the £48 million made to Beverley Charman after her 28-year marriage to insurance magnate John Charman. That sum came from the couple's total assets of £131 million.
Lawyers specialising in big-money payouts say agreements as high as £100 million have been reached privately.
Sir Paul, 65, married former model and charity campaigner Miss Mills, 40, in 2002, but they split four years later.
Beatles divorce is finally settled
