Sir Paul and Mills met at a charity event in 1999
Former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney and his wife Heather Mills are to separate after four years of marriage.
A joint statement said they had "found it increasingly difficult to maintain a normal relationship with constant intrusion into our private lives".

Sir Paul and Mills, a former model, married in June 2002. They had a daughter, Beatrice, a year later.

They met in 1999 through Mills' work for her charity, launched after losing a leg in a motorbike accident in 1993.

The statement said: "Having tried exceptionally hard to make our relationship work given the daily pressures surrounding us, it is with sadness that we have decided to go our separate ways.

To have to go through this so publicly, especially with a small daughter, is immensely stressful

Joint statement by Sir Paul and Mills


The Beatle and the model
"Our parting is amicable and both of us still care about each other very much but have found it increasingly difficult to maintain a normal relationship with constant intrusion into our private lives, and we have actively tried to protect the privacy of our child.

"Separation for any couple is difficult enough, but to have to go through this so publicly, especially with a small daughter, is immensely stressful.

"We hope, for the sake of our baby daughter, that we will be given some space and time to get through this difficult period."

Criticism

Mills has endured repeated press criticism since their wedding, including claims that she influenced her husband's decisions on everything from his appearance to his work.

Sir Paul has also refuted claims of a rift between his wife and his children.


The couple have carried out animal rights campaigning this year
Recent reports had suggested the couple were living at separate addresses.

Sir Paul, 63, was said to be living on the family farm in Peasmarsh, East Sussex, while 38-year-old Mills was reportedly at the couple's home in Hove.

The couple have also appeared together at public engagements this year, protesting in Canada in March against the slaughter of seal pups and in a BBC documentary last month on the fur trade.

Lavish

They were married in June 2002 at the 17th Century Castle Leslie in Glaslough, County Monaghan, Ireland.


They met fans the day before their carefully shielded wedding

Sir Paul later revealed the venue was chosen because his mother had been born in County Monaghan.

Fortune

Sir Paul has been world famous for five decades following the global success of the Beatles in the 1960s.

He received a knighthood in 1997's New Year honours.

The musician is worth an estimated

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