Paul McCartney was so close to his first wife Linda that they reportedly only spent one week apart during their 30 years together, until she died of breast cancer in 1998. Now 2nd wife Heather Mills is claiming that Sir Paul was abusive to her. Mills' friend told The Mail: "Heather told me that he did to Linda what he did to her. She says that staff of Paul's told her that Linda had also suffered abuse."
But a friend of Paul's said: "This is ridiculous. This is a man who gets distressed if he steps on an insect."
A friend of Ms Mills, 38, said the pressure of the divorce was now taking a huge emotional toll on her. She was suffering from alarming mood swings and insomnia, and making increasingly outlandish - and sometimes contradictory - claims.
The allegation sickened friends of Sir Paul, who said the war of words between the couple had now reached a new low. His marriage to Linda was famously loving and there is no evidence whatsoever that he ever attacked her. Even friends of Ms Mills admitted the claim would make her look ridiculous.
Already Ms Mills' honesty was being called into question yesterday. The Mail on Sunday has learned she has told friends that police were called on several occasions during fights with Sir Paul - but police appear to have no records of such incidents. "This newspaper can also reveal Ms Mills will make an application to the High Court on November 3 for the £1billion divorce case to be heard in open court. The full case is expected to go ahead next March. The latest shocking allegation appears to be part of Ms Mills' increasingly desperate attempts to justify the claims that she was attacked by Sir Paul on four occasions."
She has insisted to her friends she has evidence, yet there is a total lack of support for the bizarre claim that he attacked Linda.
Writer and vegetarian campaigner Carla Lane, who was one of Linda McCartney's best friends, said: "That's nonsense. I haven't said anything about Paul since all this blew up but I can't let that pass. I was very close to Linda and I know she would have confided in me if anything like that had happened. It's just not true."
Sir Paul's former publicist Geoff Baker said: "It's the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard in my life. How long is it going to be before she falls into the sewer that she seems to be making her home?"
"Everyone knows, and it goes without saying, that Paul and Linda had one of the happiest marriages in showbusiness. In my opinion, Heather Mills is now making a bid to become the vilest woman in Britain." And a close friend of Sir Paul's said: "It's a horrible thing to suggest and Paul will be very upset. He doted on Linda and she doted on him. It's just not in his nature to do that."
