THE end of any marriage is sad - especially where a young child is concerned - but this one was hardly unexpected. Sir Paul McCartney's relationship with Heather Mills has been stormy almost from the moment they met seven years ago. The former model - who famously lost her leg when she was hit by a police motorcyclist in 1993 - was speaking about her charity. The ex-Beatle - who was still grieving for Linda,, his mate of 29 years who had died from cancer the previous year - was lonely.. The widower was smitten and romance soon blossomed but, not surprisingly, McCartney's grown-up children were more cautious if not downright disapproving. Heather, 26 years his junior, naturally faced accusations of gold-digging for his £800m fortune. But her former husband added fuel to the fire when he wrote an open letter to Sir Paul warning she should carry a "Buyer Beware" sticker, and claiming he'd had to send her to a psychiatrist for her "problems with the truth." Meanwhile her stepfather described her as "a confused fantastist". Then, on the eve of their wedding there was a furious bust-up in a Florida hotel which ended with her £35,000 engagement ring being flung out of a window. It was not a propitious omen and the marriage was never likely to continue smoothly - despite a daughter being born 16 months later.. Unfortunately Heather, who is a natural self-publicist with a larger than normal ego, has never managed to gain the affections of either the Press or the public - let alone as stepmother to her husband's other children. And it seems of late she has increasingly come to resent Sir Paul's fame - believing somewhat naively that her own role in the world is equally important and that she deserves more recognition. The sad fact is she was not of right generation to appreciate why The Beatles are still revered by tens of millions of fans worldwide. It's not Paul's fault - though perhaps he should have known a character like Heather would find the adulation just too hard to live with if it were not shared with her. With a cruel irony Paul McCartney, now 63, once asked on The Beatles most famous album whether he'd still be needed by his partner when he was 64. It seems the answer is probably not. | 
