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Paul McCartney?s Wife Posed as Newspaper Journalist

Heather Mills, an investigative reporter who now writes for Private Eye magazine in London, England, claims that the former model and Paul McCartney?s estranged wife had posed as Mills in the late 1990s when the journalist was working on The Observer. The journalist was one of several of McCartney?s friends and associates who yesterday defended the singer in his discordant divorce battle and to ridicule Ms. Mills McCartney?s claims against him which were made in legal documents leaked to the press. Entertainment and music fans everywhere will follow this story to see how the divorce unfolds.

?She posed as me not only to her friends but in a series of meetings with TV executives. She even showed people cuttings of stories I had written. I had never heard of her and had no idea why readers would think a little-known model would also be a broadsheet newspaper correspondent. At least they made an honest mistake. Heather Mills McCartney did it deliberately,? said Mills. Being accused of mad fanaticism and trying to establish herself as a television presenter in the world of entertainment, Ms. Mills McCartney had yet to meet her future husband or find widespread fame. The journalist said she discovered the existence of her namesake when readers began sending letters sympathizing about the loss of her leg.

The claims by the journalist came as the enmity between the former Beatle and his estranged wife had grown to a new level, with friends of Ms. Mills McCartney saying that she had told them that her husband had beaten his first wife, Linda. Last week, details of the divorce papers leaked and were disputed point by point by a senior member of the entertainment music artist?s staff for 15 years, Geoff Baker. Mr. Baker stated that the couple had seemed very happy and in love during the singer?s US tour in November 2002.